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Humorous nickname for a raccoon / FRI 7-7-23 / Ice in some product names / The virtue of the lukewarm per Sartre / Festive Islamic greeting / Virtual game described as a cross between Tamagotchi and Pokémon / Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn artist / Play checkers, informally
Friday, July 7, 2023
Constructor: Adrian Johnson
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Word of the Day: EID MUBARAK (59A: Festive Islamic greeting) —
Eid Mubarak (Arabic: عِيد مُبَارَك ʿīd mubārak) is an Arabic term that means “Blessed feast/festival'”. The term is used by Muslims all over the world. Internationally Muslims use it as a greeting on the feast. In the social sense, people usually celebrate Eid al-Fitr after Ramadan and Eid al-Adha in the month of Dhul Hijjah (the 12th and final Islamic month). Some state that this exchange of greetings is a cultural tradition and not part of any religious obligation. (wikipedia)
• • •
The puzzle had a slightly dated feel at times. Do NEOPETS still exist? Also, do POKES still exist? I haven't heard anyone use the term "poke" in a Facebook / social media context since what feels like the aughts. The other answer that felt dated was OPENLY GAY (20A: Out in public?). It has something ... shocked about it, something that suggests that not hiding one's gayness is inherently flagrant or ostentatious. We say "out" now because it's neutral. OPENLY GAY feels like a holdover from a time when just ... being gay out in the open (whatever form that takes) was less common, more startling (to straights). It has a mild suggestion of flamboyance, of "shoving our face in it." As if "open" gayness were shameless. As opposed to just, you know, perfectly ordinary. It's a tonal thing. The OPENLY part suggests it's normally (or even properly) hidden. I don't know that it's a bad term; it just belongs to a different era (to my ear). Obviously homophobia is still with us, and people are still closeted, but something about this phrase just sits slightly wrong. When I google "OPENLY GAY" (in quot. marks), the first thing that comes up is an editorial from The Advocate entitled, "Why 'Openly Gay' Is an Offensive Term." "Offensive" is stronger language than I would have used, but the article's worth reading. Here's a taste:
"Openly" is a noxious designation that is not as accepting or as enlightened as it seems. "Openly" is in fact the reaction to disapproval. It expresses surprise, shock, that someone LGBTQ+ is actually, officially, not hiding in plain sight.
I'm not usually that fond of quotation clues (they tend to be less profound than they believe they are, plus they can be very hard to get!), but I actually loved the sting in the Sartre quote re: MODESTY today (38A: "The virtue of the lukewarm," per Sartre). I also loved the clue on ASANA, and that I got it so easily (25A: Difficult position, maybe) (ASANA are, of course, yoga positions). I like less the clue on "STAY AWAY" (14D: Back order?). So is "back" here evoking the idea of "back away!" or "stay back!"? An order ... to back up ... is an order to STAY AWAY? I wanted this answer to have something to do with MASSAGE. "RUB THERE!," something like that.
Some more points:
- 4D: Gathering, informally (SESH) — ah, the dreaded SESH. Ugly-cutesy, this abbrev. I had NEAR 19A: Just about here but then couldn't get S---R to work for [Gathering, informally], so then I tried NIGH, and after hefting and discarding SASH ("a gathering ... of fabric ... somehow?") I remembered (with something less than fondness) that SESH existed. Do I have to tell you it's short for "session"? Maybe I do.
- 18A: ___ Voyage, long-running London based holographic concert (ABBA) — went from "how the hell should I know?" to "Oh, yeah, right." Their last album was entitled "Voyage." I played ABBA on the blog just yesterday. I'll play ABBA on the blog any chance I get.
- 21D: Bit of slow motion, in a way (LAG) — is the LAG the "motion"? I guess so, but something about the phrasing feels not *quite* on the money.
- 55D: Play checkers, informally (REFS) — wow, this clue is really, really trying for misdirection. Mission accomplished. REFS keep players in check, sure. They also sometimes check (i.e. review) footage of a play to make sure the call on the field is a good one. So it works. But my first reaction was definitely "Checkers slang? There's checkers slang? Bad enough I have to deal with all the chess terminology in crosswords, but checkers!? Bridge too far!"
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101 comments:
Rex – I feel ya, man, re the heat. But for me, living with central AC, just the knowledge of how miserable it is outside makes me miserable inside, too.
Perfect Friday imo. Lots of lively fill plus the symmetry of DNA TESTING and GENETICIST. My Aunt LaVerne was the requisite armchair “geneticist” (every family has one) for Mom’s side of the family. She told my sisters and me our whole life that we had a lot of Cherokee in us, a bragging point for me when I was young. My sister recently did one of those kits, and it turns out that we have zero Cherokee blood. On Dad’s side, the genealogist was his sister Maryon, who had us related to George Washington. Brag, brag. But I learned after she died that she had been a bit of a drinker and consulted the Ouija Board for a lot of her genetic work. Oops.
AERATE/BURR – nice. I have a nifty telescoping portable fan I drag around with me to incur the BRR.
PAWPRINT/PETCO – nice.
I kept going back to consider I AM as a terse admission. I did, or I was feels like a more likely admission. But then I thought of accusations like Are you grinding your teeth? Are you really 5 years older than you claim? Are you really a Barry Manilow fan? Are you the one who ate the entire box of ice cream sandwiches? , and I decided it was fine.
Whoa. Say what? REWIND. I had such a moment yesterday morning. Mom and I were peacefully sharing a space, me with my crossword, her with her iPad solitaire. After a while, she said, Sometimes when my stomach makes noises, I think it’s people talking. Where do you even start with something like that? What a great sentence. On so many levels. Its ambiguity notwithstanding, its ambush factor is fantastic. It would be a dandy way to discourage a pesky guy bothering you at a bar. He confides sheepishly that he can be a little stubborn, that he’s a good judge of people, and that his family can be [grin] a little crazy. Yawn. You can lean in, lock eyes, and deliver Mom’s line very seriously and then do a little eyebrow wag. I imagine he’ll regroup, reassess, and lurch off to greener pastures.
@Andrew from yesterday – yeah, I deserved that.
@Beezer – congrats on going blue! I emailed you. Maybe it went to spam.
The movie Dunkirk was about WWII, not WWI. It’s unusual to see a mistake like this in the NYTimes crossword, and even more unusual for no one to notice it. It really had me stumped.otherwise, the puzzle was fun.
Stay cool in every way, Rex.
I can't function in this heat/humidity, so the air is on all the time - otherwise, my brain just goes to mush. Not looking forward to the June/July electric bills.
Anyhoo, I really liked the puzzle a lot but did not find it easy-medium at all some of the cluing completely evaded me. I still have a FB account that I use for meetups, but I can't remember the last time I got or gave a POKE.
I wanted something like "GailyGay", at one point trying out but no joy. got Naticked in the south - I've never heard RIDEORDIE, and didn't know EIDMUBARAK. even with getting REFS, I still had some incorrect vowels.
I love TRASHPANDA and FREESAMPLE (who doesn't?).
Gotta dry may hair now so that it can frizz up the moment I walk out the door. Good weekend everyone.
Somehow I read 16A clue as 'actress' rather than 'actor', which led to my only overwrite (yErI before KURT)
Help from previous puzzles: TRASH PANDA, RIDE OR DIE, AIWEI WEI, SESH. I have seen RIDE OR DIE I the wild since the first time it was I a puzzle, and have heard SESH, but always think it should be SESs.
@Debbie 6:57 - you seem to have a different clue. Mine involves the film 1917, not Dunkirk.
@Debbie The clue is "1917" from 2019 not Dunkirk (2017). At least on the NYT site right now it is.
Too funny! Steps need to be taken to have Mom declared a national treasure!
My uncles Maish and Calman would go to the movies together and when Maish's stomach growled, he'd poke Calman and tell him to be quiet. Calman would apologize. It was a form of stomach ventriloquism.
******
In my version of the puzzle, the movie in the clue at 44A was "1917," not Dunkirk.
Editorial fix on different platforms? The movie is "1917" in my puzzle, not Dunkirk.
The bottom half was more difficult that the top. I whoosh-whooshed through the top and then got hung up on Ai Wei Wei (35D), the last half of EDIT DOWN (36D) and EID MUBARAK (59A). It didn't help that I had GENETIC lab before GENETICIST at 45A.
I think the guys (mostly) in NYT Crosswords noticed because they changed the clue to “Backdrop for the 2019 film “1917”: Abbr. - smack in the middle of WWI. I did the puzzle around 10:30 EDT - and they had already corrected it in the online version.
Enjoyed the clues on items like URBAN ART, PUB GAMES, EDIT DOWN and even PAW PRINT had a nice take to it. All long downs with witty but very fair clues.
I’m not very deep into LGBTQ+ culture, but one would think that with all the time and effort that community put into evolving the social norms so that being OPENLY GAY would be thought of about the same as being left handed, it would be a bit of a shame if it were now somehow considered pejorative. I’m wondering if Rex is on point or maybe missed the mark with that observation.
I get a chuckle when I stumble upon stuff like AI WEI WEI and EID MUBARAK - simply because they look so awkward and out of place. Obviously, it’s the NYT and they’re going to AI WEI WEI whenever they want to.
I don’t get the clue for GOO. Do infants really interject that ? Into what, a conversation - if so, what does it mean ? Is there a misdirect that I’m not picking up on - maybe the Brits (I’m not very proficient on the foreign language stuff, but I know LOO from previous grids). I don’t know, but I’ve never heard a baby interject GOO - I know the NYT strives to remain hip and trendy - is this some type of new-wave toddler slang ?
Yesterday's New Yorker puzzle had this clue: "___ panda (jocular term for a raccoon)". So I had no problem filling in 1A this morning. I thought the puzzle was sort of tough, with stuff like "Festive Islamic greeting" and "Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn" artist.
TRASH PANDA is not a humorous nickname - especially for those nasty rodents. Straightforward Friday - not a lot of pushback. Couple of unknowns - but liked EID and I WASNT DONE.
@Debbie - my clue for 44a referenced 1917 not Dunkirk.
DIRE Straits
I enjoyed this.
My only issue was RIDE OR DIE, which I have never heard of and for the life of me could not parse, so it became a Natick for me. Even after solving it looks and sounds stupid.
But I ultimately figured it out because I could guess what was missing from AIWE_WEI, and C_NTS had a very limited number of options, assuming NYT still follows some sort of obscenity rules.
Although, I have to admit my own stupidity that I still don't understand the CENTS answer. How does that fit the clue?
Only other annoyance is GOO, which is not only a dumb answer to that clue, but also slightly disgusting. I don't ever want to consider a baby's interjection as "goo."
I thought the movie reference was “1917.”
The top half was really easy.
Aiweiwei and eid mubarak didn't single-handedly make the bottom half odious, but they were much of the problem. Arcane foreign stuff. Thanks.
"New idea" isn't a phrase anyone uses interchangeably with "Or, here's a thought," if at all.
And I knew what sherpa meant until this puzzle.
Throw in "ride or die" for "one who's loyal to a fault," infants who say "goo"(?) and noogie... well, what started out moderately exhilarating turned into a really terrible way to start a Friday morning.
Heaven for me, a wordplay lover. This puzzle was made with a twinkle in the eye, and drew “Hah!” after “Hah!” from my heart of hearts. I was misdirected, bamboozled, and flummoxed time after time, only to have the moment resolved with a burst of inner laughter.
I was convinced, for instance, after having the first P and the T, that [Track around the park, maybe] was PAVEMENT, visualizing an asphalt track for cyclists and joggers. When I finally got it right, I didn’t react by musing, “Oh, I see, ‘track’ here is a noun, not a verb.” I reacted, rather, by bursting inside, “Hah! Hah! Hah! -- ‘track’ here is a noun, not a verb!”
That’s just me, and that was just me from start to finish, relishing the riddle clues, such as [One past a quarter], other part-of-speech turnarounds, such as [Play checkers, informally], and vague misdirects, such as [Difficult position, maybe].
Not a whooshy whee for me – this took gritty effort to fill – but a whee of glee, a transporter to my happy place, and I left the puzzle feeling like friends with everyone in the world.
Adrian, you’ve got that knack, that wordplay knack, that will keep me looking for your name up the road. I’ll take a SEASON PASS. Thank you for a soaring solve!
I thought of checkers as the outfit, checks. But that’s only AFTER I got the answer.
Thx, Adrian, crunchy puz; definitely lots to chew on! 😊
Tough (over Sat. time).
Somehow muddled thru this one. Well off the beaten path for me.
Lots of stuff to learn: TRASH PANDA; TWINS; RIDE OR DIE; EID MUBARAK; AI WIE WEI; ARAGON; NEOPETS; POKES.
Nevertheless, a welcome challenge! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
The “goo” interjection is short for “goo goo ga ga”…which babies used to commonly say in the good old days, as I recall.
That NW corner was just aces in my book. Agree that the top fell more easily than the bottom, especially because I blanked on both PAWPRINT and AIWEIWEI. I think “GOO” is short for “goo goo ga ga” which some people use to imitate baby talk? But yeah, it didn’t quite land right.
@Christopher, honestly a little baffled that anyone would refer to the standard greeting for a high holiday celebrated by 1.9 billion people (including 3.5 million Americans) as “arcane foreign stuff.” It’s a late week puzzle, it might not be known to you, and that’s fine imo, we all learn new things through the crossword. And, said as a Jew, if Rosh Hashanah and lots of other Jewish and Yiddish clues are fair game, with 16 million Jews globally and ~7 million in the US, then certainly EID MUBARAK should be.
@SouthsideJohnny re: OPENLY GAY, I don’t think Rex is wrong. The issue isn’t the GAY part, it’s the OPENLY. We just say “out” now, because like he said, “openly” implies that there’s something not quite right about being out about that thing. Like you don’t say “openly female” or “openly Black” or “openly disabled.” We do say “openly fascist,” or “openly sexist,” you know? That said, it didn’t bug me much, I think because I really liked the puzzle. I also chalked it up to maybe a generational difference - I imagine younger folks might find the term more problematic than older ones. And yes, the NEOPETS and POKE clues being presented as if they weren’t retro reinforced my sense of that difference.
But honestly, WE’RE SO DEAD alone was worth the price of admission. I immediately thought of a time when my brother Dashiell and I were 11 and 13, and home alone. Recollections vary about who started it, but somehow my brother got into our 2nd floor laundry chute. His torso fit but thankfully not his arms or shoulders. He was just going to dip in and out but he kept doing tricks and then his arms gassed out. And try as I might I couldn’t help him up and out. He was basically suspended by his armpits. It was… not good. We were totally panicked but I eventually went next door and got our neighbor, who was an FBI agent, to help us out. With Dash safely extracted from the chute, we knew we had to tell our parents before our law-abiding neighbor did. The first thing we said, in unison? “WE’RE SO DEAD.” Sometimes I marvel at folks having babysitters for tweens and even teens, since I started babysitting at 11. But then I remember this story and I think that maybe they’re on to something…
Well, this is a nifty puzzle. All twelve long answers in the corners are terrific -- AIWEIWEI being my favorite -- and the symmetrical DNATESTING/GENETICIST is the cherry on top. No real junk anywhere. Some really good clues, with the one for REFS being one of the best I've seen in a while. Excellent work!
AIWEIWEI looks like a bad Scrabble hand (with one extra letter, cheater!)
EIDMUBARAK - is that the ne’er do well son of deposed Egyptian leader HOSNI?
Not crazy about that spelling of ASANA bin Laden, but that clue makes sense - he was in a difficult position after 9/11, maybe.
A regular family SESH with MAW and PAW with the TWINS and SON discussing DNATESTING, maybe.
Had HONESTY as the virtue of the lukewarm, which didn't really make sense, but quotes don’t have to, maybe.
This is fun - going to end all my sentences today that way, maybe.
Game changer: Lay a wet washcloth across the back of your neck when you go to bed. It was over 80 in my bedroom last night and I slept like a baby, complete with covers.
A lot to like and then stuff that just brings it down for me (recognize my hang ups, but still).
Prevalence of NYTXW yoga clues is reaching “in your face” levels.
2 cross-referenced clues on a Friday. It’s fine, but ADEN clue is such a give up (anagram a 4 letter word?) and what does it have to do with DANE. Why? At least the DNA clues work together.
I kinda see Rex’s point on OPENLYGAY. It filled easily, but also feels dated and a little patronizing.
A strong Friday construction that hit a few nerves of mine.
@Mack,
I believe the CENTS clue refers to the decimal point? So after the dollar amount it is "besides" the point? I think
Hiw does "rideordie" equate to "loyal to a fault"...I'll wait
Fun and challenging puzzle filled with glitter.
I'd quibble over the clue to RIDE OR DIE, since I see it as a philosophy, not a person. And TINS was weird unless you donate sardines, and good lord I hope you don't.
Three stuck places for me with ARAGON, EID MUBARAK and AI WEIWEI being random collections of unknown letters to me, but it didn't spoil the fun. I loved reading about the Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn photographs. I think he might've been in the puzzle a year or so back. Fascinating artist.
I am hoping for a world when you don't have to be OPENLY anything. It would be more convenient for everyone to be whatever without worry. I suppose there's always gonna be somebody telling you to stop being who you are, but I can still hope.
Do the PuzzPair® DNA TESTING and GENETICIST count as a theme? It does if you asterisk all the people and animals in the puzzle.
PAELLAS spelling continues to confound.
Love: WE'RE SO DEAD, I WASN'T DONE, PAW PRINT, NOOGIE, URBAN ART, and my favorite phrase I've never gotten to use: STAY AWAY.
Uniclues:
1 Non-fiction tome subtitled: My life in your backyard.
2 AI generated and 3D printed real dogs.
3 Crosswords with entries like "prutte du," "ønsker at drikke sig fuld," and "lad os makker."
4 The guy bringing his own darts to the bar.
1 TRASH PANDA OPUS
2 NEOPETS NEW IDEA
3 I AM DANE THEMES (~)
4 PUB GAMES SHERPA
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Muse on Nyquil. SLEEPY ERATO
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
OPENLY GAY was commonly used when I was younger (I'm in my 60s).
It's dated, but it's a fair entry.
Hey All !
That SE corner destroyed me! I had the rest of the puz done in about 22 minutes, and it took another 20 minutes for that corner! Dang. SHERPA clued not in my knowledge base, Aggregates, apparently the definition is not in the ole brain. REFS, what a clue! Throw in EIDMUBARAK, which was not parsable to me (I know I've seen it before), and tricky to get NEW IDEA, THEME, SEASON PASS. Wowzers.
When was the last time you gave/got/saw NOOGIE? Flash back to the 70's-80's.
Good puz overall. Too bad my brain shut down on me. 😁
My WWI clue said 1917, wonder how these wrong things get in the clues. Odd.
Happy Friday.
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
I gave/received NOOGIEs before I was OPENLY GAY!
Medium for me, and fun to solve, as I ran into one log jam after another and then managed to dislodge them and be on my way. Some of the log jams were of my own making, e.g., in the NW with "I WAS saying" and "Near" messing up my Downs; fortunately, I was saved by the new grid fave SESH (-->NIGH, ARAGON, TRASH..., etc.). Elsewhere the jam was made up of too many white squares to crowbar into: I needed to claw my way up into the NE from MAW and SERA. Lifelines along the way: the parallel GENETICIST, AI WEI WEI (thanks to having been in the right city at the right time to see a wonderful exhibition) and RIDE OR DIE (thanks to a previous puzzle). Loved the tricky cluing, especially for STAY AWAY and PAW PRINT. I thought it was a very fine Friday.
Do-overs: Near, I WAS saying, PoWeRlap (around a track). Help from previous puzzles: RIDE OR DIE, NEOPETS, SESH. New to me: TRASH PANDA, EID MUBARAK.
A variation of "ride or die" is "ride or die with a stop for snacks."
I had Nelson before Noogie and did for a while.
RIDE OR DIE (from Wikipedia, summarized by ChatGPT):
"Thank you for providing that detailed excerpt from Wikipedia. It provides a comprehensive overview of the origins and usage of the phrase "ride or die" within the context of biker culture and its subsequent popularization in hip hop music. The information you provided accurately describes how the term has been used and understood in those contexts, including the association with loyalty, partnership, and a willingness to support one another through thick and thin.
The phrase "ride or die" has indeed been linked to the biker culture of the 1950s, where it originally conveyed a sense of loyalty and commitment among bikers. Over time, the meaning evolved to refer to a committed and loyal partnership, often associated with a Bonnie and Clyde-type dynamic, where individuals are willing to go to great lengths and face risks together.
In hip hop music, the term "ride or die" has been widely used, particularly in songs, to express loyalty, dedication, and the idea of being there for someone through any circumstance. The lyrics and examples you provided demonstrate how the phrase has been incorporated into various hip hop songs, capturing the concept of unwavering support and devotion.
It is important to note that the phrase "ride or die" can have different connotations and interpretations depending on the context. It can signify a strong bond and commitment, but it can also be seen as perpetuating harmful and potentially dangerous relationship dynamics.
The Wikipedia excerpt also mentions that the term is used within celebrity culture, both positively and negatively, to describe loyalty or commitment. It highlights instances where the term has been used in a positive light to emphasize support and defense of partners or loved ones, as well as instances where caution is advised against sacrificing one's own well-being and happiness.
Overall, the phrase "ride or die" encompasses notions of loyalty, dedication, and unwavering support, but it is essential to recognize that its usage and implications can vary depending on the specific context and individual perspectives."
NOTE: of interest is this Ngram graph that shows almost no record of its use until it started to spike circa 2000.
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
You can't imagine how much I don't like seeing a combination of letters like AIWEIWEI in my puzzle. Followed closely by a combo of letters like EIDMUBARAK. Does that phrase have anything to do with the former Egyptian leader?
I wasn't thrilled with the slangy and youthy phrases REWIND and RIDE OR DIE either. Nor would I know NEOPETS if I fell over them.
As perhaps the only living human who is not and who has never been on Facebook, I had to run the alphabet for PO?ES. And while I don't know my POKES from my pings, poking sort of sounds like something Facebook would do to you. (Because I assure you that EIDMUBARAK was no help at all.)
On the other hand, amazingly tricky and original clues for REFS (which fooled me right up to this very minute), ASANA, PAW PRINT, and PETCO.
And as far as fill is concerned, I really liked the DNA TESTING/GENETICIST linkage; the TRASH PANDA coinage; and the DANE/ADEN linked cluing.
Bottom line: I struggled through this one. It was nice and crunchy, just the way I like my Fridays, but OTOH it was occasionally annoying too.
Finished it with one cheat..couldn't believe AIWEIWEI was a real person, so I looked him (her?) up. I agree with Rex that the clue "play checkers" for REFS isn't quite accurate. Never heard of EIDMUBARAK, but the crosses forced it.
I thought "Catalonia neighbor" referred to a person, so ARAGON came very late. And RIDEORDIE is completely foreign to me. This puzzle was very hard, i thought, even for a Friday.
Should I go it alone, or include my wife? It’s A I/WE I/WE I dilemma.
What do zombie kids say when they’re about to get in trouble? WERESODEAD.
I was so stimulated by 51A that I thought about it in my sleep. I guess that’s what you call a WHET dream.
Welp, IWASNTDONE, but I’ll see myself out while I I can. Thanks for a really fun Friday, Adrian Johnson.
I had “FREESALAMI” in 63-across for a while…made me want to “eat a sandwich”.
Loved the puzzle and @Roo, my experience was same as yours EXCEPT I spent the bulk of time in SW, putting in caNS, putting in NEWTS taking out NEWTS (putting it in), being TOTALLY stymied at RIDEORDIE (I wanted “toadie,” although I think it would be “toady”) but somehow SOMEHOW managed to finish. Do people ever say TINS now?
@weezie…your laundry chute story cracked me up! When I was a kid our bungalow had a laundry chute to basement but luckily configured such that I couldn’t get in. As an adult we had a home that had one from second floor to basement! Yeah…given my son’s um, personality, I devised a lock for THAT puppy since I figured even I couldn’t have resisted it at his age!
Also…POKE. I got off Facebook several years ago (I DO make “surgical strikes”) but I remember I asked my daughter about “poking”early on and she said very seriously…”Mom. NEVER poke anyone.” I say…”wow…ok…does it have a sexual connotation”? Daughter: “No. it’s stupid and annoying.” And she was right!
@LMS…Thanks and YAY! I look forward to checking my email!
Are many gay people here offended by the term OPENLYGAY? Rex's virtue signaling seems excessive.
Seeing POKE at 53D reminds me of that wonderful novel and miniseries, Lonesome Dove.
Many of us seem familiar with EIDMUBARAK. Where would we non-Muslims encounter that term?
I count 16 longs today. Bravo!
Goo goo ga ga!
Speaking of TRASH PANDAs - The city of Rogersville, MO is known as the "Raccoon Capital of the World". This weekend in Rogersville, there is an event called the "J6 Truth and Light Freedom Festival". It is a gathering of participants of the January 6th insurrection who will be celebrating their treasonous deeds while raising money for the many defendents. Could there be a more sad and disgusting abuse of our right to assemble?
Eid Mubarak not so arcane to the 2 billion Muslims out there, and about as foreign as your local mosque. As for Ai Weiwei, if you read the NYT for more than the crosswords you’re familiar with the name at least.
In answer to mathgent's question, I might be in some bubble, but I don't think it's mainstream to find OPENLY GAY to be offensive, although I agree that OPENLY GAY sounds a bit awkward. But I'm not sure I understand what the proposed alternate language is that takes into account that a previous person could have been gay but that was not known. To use the example in the Advocate article, is the proposal to say, "Pete Buttigieg is the first out gay Cabinet secretary"? That's still pretty awkward to me.
Disappointingly easy, like most Fridays and Saturdays lately unfortunately.
@mathgent: No, I don't think there's another living human being offended by that term, or who would even give it a sideways glance. Bizarre reaction
On Ai Wei Wei (from wikipedia):
In October 2010, at the Tate Modern in London, Ai displayed 100 million handmade and painted porcelain sunflower seeds. The seeds weigh about 10 metric tons and were made by by 1,600 Jingdezhen artisans over 2.5 years in a city where porcelain had been made for over a thousand years. The mass of tiny seeds represents that, together, the people of China can stand up and overthrow the Chinese Communist Party.
Can be fun to see the forms of ignorance people are proud to profess, though it becomes a bit dull when it follows such consistent patterns. Couple days ago two widely-awarded USA actors were called "foreign" -- today one of the world's most decorated artists is not just foreign but "arcane", as is Eid mubarak. We get it -- you've never seen a movie or been in a gallery; you don't have any Muslim friends. Another user wants us to know that despite apparently looking him up, they are still unsure of Ai Wei Wei's gender. Europeans are rarely cause these consternations (not counting Europeans like Ai Wei Wei). At the risk of spelling out the obvious, calling things that are common and popular in the USA, or USA born and bred citizens, "foreign" because they are not white is white nationalism. Keep it to yourself.
Congratulations on a second POW award Adrian! So much fun to struggle through your grid & get those wonderfully creative NEW IDEAs as the CENTS drop finally into the correct slot. From DANE to ADEN this was a FREE SAMPLE of delight!
On the tough side for me. Spelling AWIEIWEI was a problem, I too blanked on TRASH PANDA (which I did know), EID MUBARAK was a WOE, I did not know the Sartre quote, plus a couple of misreads and some tricky cluing...tougher than the typical Friday. Very smooth with a fair bit of sparkle liked it a bunch and Jeff gave it POW.
Didn't care for Trash Pandas. They're just mammals taking advantage of the buffet that's been left accessible to them. Intelligent, Paw-washing creatures.
Nice word play here with a lot of aha's at the bottom. SW corner was a killer though.
@Joaquin, Re. your last comment, no. @mathgent, read the book, loved the series and I agree.
I'm openly gay and not at all offended by the term. It's dated but real.
Once at a work meeting there were 3 or 4 gay people and the person leading the meeting said something that riled a straight female colleague. She pulled us aside after the meeting and expressed her anger and asked if we wanted to complain. We totally didn't get why she was offended and let her know that we would let her know if something bothered us in the future.
People love to get offended on the behalf of others.
There was a vigorous discussion like this over at another crossword blog a few days ago - but about Asians. A person who isn't Asian berated an Asian poster for not being sensitive to Asian Americans.
Medium Challenging for me. I'm not a Facebook user, so I didn't know about pokes, had likes instead and never figured out that corner. Devious cluing, mostly fun. SW corner was a struggle.
It took me a long time to get that too.
It refers to the decimal point in numbers
If it makes you feel better, raccoons are not rodents
@Mack Cents has to do with writing out money. I have $5.67 can be read I have 5 dollars and 67 cents so point is for decimal.
“Openly gay” still makes sense in places where the taboo is still in place (sports, religions...) Has a hint of heroism to it.
I definitely did not find this one easy-medium. In fact I needed help to finish. My first pass through I only had Kurt, Sera (I am moving to the Amalfi Coast in the fall), Paellas, Petco, Leto, Newt, and Eid Mubarak. AiWeiWei is new to me, as are the apparently old neopets.. Rideordie (I kept reading as Ride Ordie - how thick am I? - had to read comments to parse that one out.
While I think in current usage Openly Gay is offensive - in an historical context, it is a valid expression, sad, but valid.
@Magoo (11:27). Come by this corner of the playground. We've got a nice piece of cake for you.
This got a serious WOW from me. Not a WOW, oh goodie, but a WOW, I actually finished.
It took me about a peaceful hour to work on this. I'm not sure if I'm better in the evening or in the morning. I think I'm more intelligent in the AM.
TWINS and I WASN'T DONE. First entry. I wanted some sort of Rocky name for the raccoon. Had POT PANDA and DEAD. Is this going to be one of those? Ah. Stare enough and TRASH appears. ARAGON opening the doors.
I think when I got to Big trap MAW, I really decided this was going to be exciting. It was. Pause....Sartre! Should I be impressed that the virtue of the lukewarm is MODESTY? Check...It is.
Pause at AI WEIWEI. I'm an art major and I'm openly impressed by the imagination being thrown out there for all to enjoy and try. to understand. I know Ai's background and his story is really interesting but I'm not into conceptual art. Sunflower Seed anybody?
The bottom was impossible for me. I left it for the morning. I got as far as PAW PRINTS...which took some time. The other dog reference at 49A took at least four sips of coffee. I had Leash (nope). I had Fence (nope). Oh, wait....PAW PRINTS and PETCO. Done. Ponder. Call my friend. Ask him why things that are beside the point CENTS. I do not understand that answer. Not even sure that cheat was worth my dime.
Is EIDMUBARAK correct? Let me check...It is. Is REFS the one playing checkers? It is. Is a RIDE OR DIE person loyal to a fault? Let me check. He is.
SEASON PASS...The end...Clap....Yell "Bravo"....Wave to BARAK and remember a festive Islamic greeting... It'll come in handy some day....
Adios amigos, companeros de mi vida!
@Magoo (11:27) -- I agree completely with your criticism of people who dearly love to get offended on behalf of others. And when such criticism comes from someone on whose behalf others have gotten offended but who clearly isn't offended by the so-called offense, I'm tempted to stand up and applaud.
Fine puzzle, with lots of nice clues. For some reason I wanted DNA TracING, which made me think the puzzle had spelled AreATE wrong, but that got sorted.
As for comments -- Rex says explicitly that he would not call OPENLY GAY "offensive," but that it's dated.
On the one hand, AI WEI WEI is now in a dead heat with Banksy as the world's most famous living artist, and gets regular press coverage both for his relentless criticism of the Chinese government and is iconoclastic approach to art history. (Literally iconoclastic, he actually did drop a Han Dynasty urn). On the other hand, most people do not follow the art news, which is why so many didn't know him.
As for how a non-Muslim might know EID MUBARAK, it's the same way Muslims know "Merry Christmas." That is, 1) your Islamic acquaintances are likely to say it to you at appropriate times, and 2) journalists and political figures will frequently put out statements on Islamic holidays, just as they do on Jewish holidays, Christian holidays and, increasingly, Hindu holidays (notice that Diwali is starting to appear in puzzles). One sees it a lot on Twitter.
@Loren, my wife can identify the Creek woman who was one of her great grandmothers, but both her daughters and one of her cousins got DNA analysis that reported no Native American content. As a biochemist/toxicologist she knows something about how these tests work, and says it is because they do not have enough Native Americans, let alone Creeks or Cherokees, in their database to be able to identify the differences.
It may not lead to a BRR experience but here's a way to try to get some sleep on a stiflingly hot night. I learned it while on a dive trip in the Philippines from a fellow diver who had spent several years in India in the Peace Corp.
Rinse off in the shower and go back to bed while still dripping wet. Lay on your back in a spread eagle position, arms and legs splayed out. I was skeptical at first but I know from experience that it works. And this was in the tropics where there was no electricity and not even a whisper of air movement.
Wow! The "Infant's interjection" clue for 45D was a puzzler. Holy cow! The answer, GOO, sounds much too tame to rate an exclamation point. My go to clue for GOO would be something like "Sneaker repair extraordinaire Shoe ___".
<a href="https://youtu.be/vnmplSPgwEQ”>Deeply-closeted Norm MacDonald comes out to Larry King, maybe</a>
I'm confused about what's confusing about the 1917 movie clue. WWI started in 1914, America got into in 1917. It's a British film.
Love having you back posting. What a great way to start the day.
I didn't know AI WEI WEI & had to cheat on Eid Mubarak so I guess this was a DNF.
Welcome back, Rex. How are the kitties doing in the heat?
Jack @11:00 AM — I’ve been indulging in this blog for some time now and, like you, have been regularly gobsmacked by the proudly ignorant comments about things “foreign.” (Welcome to the good ole USA, home of the so-called melting pot!)
Fortunately, most solvers here don’t suffer with cultural myopia.
One reason people are referred to as "openly gay" in newspapers, etc., is so it's clear they are not being outed.
RIDE OR DIE is obviously a verb construction. So how in the world can it be defined as "ONE who's loyal to a fault"? A person can be a "RIDE" (or a determination to "ride or die"?) -- Makes absolutely no sense at all, as clued.
. . . and how can a single PAWPRINT be a "track" around a park? Shouldn't that be pawPRINTS"??
Luved the feisty cluin, and the snuck-in mini-theme [DNATESTING & GENETICIST].
Had most of our solvequest troubles in the SW, with the AIWEIWEI/RIDEORDIE crossin area.
Only other major no-know was EIDMUBARAK, but its crossins were all pretty fair.
fave fillins: TRASHPANDA. WE'RESODEAD [M&A had recently built a "I am so ___"-themed runtpuz]. STAYAWAY. NOOGIE. TWINS [M&A's fave B-ball team].
fave clues: REFS. ADEN clue usin its DANE neighbor. DUCT. BRR.
staff weeject picks: SNO & BRR. Apt only in Antarctica, currently.
Sooo… Thanx for the sorta themed FriPuz, Mr. Johnson dude. Too bad FREESAMPLE couldn'ta been SWABSAMPLE, or some such … to thereby score yer complete FriPuz theme hi-jackin. har
Masked & Anonymo4Us
**gruntz**
@BOCAMP— thanks for your detailed explanation of RIDEORDIE, which previously made no sense to me at all. But then I’m not a 50’s biker or a fan of hip-hop. The clue seemed to call for a noun or possibly an adjective. Can’t wait to throw in the phrase
in casual conversation— hah!! Otherwise, a fun, if difficult Friday!
Hello. Thanks to @LMS’S encouragement I’m upgrading from Lurker to Blue Name….. if I did it correctly! ….fingers crossed…
Fun coincidence: yesterday's (July 6) New Yorker crossword had trash panda as an answer as well. 16 ----- panda (jocular term for a raccoon).
Easy to overlook, but the article Rex referenced about the term ‘openly gay’ being problematic is from The Advocate, a magazine specifically dedicated to LGBT issues. The article was written by Richie Jackson, who is gay. This is not straight people getting offended on behalf of gay people. It is a gay person expressing his viewpoint, and Rex has simply passed that along to us.
Also … gay people are not a monolithic block who all think the same way about everything. Knowing that some are not bothered by the term ‘openly gay’ does not establish anything about how other gay people might feel about the term.
A good rule of thumb on any new information is to avoid getting invested in your immediate, instinctive reaction. In this case, read the article. Talk to your gay friends and relatives. Talk to your straight friends and relatives. Let everything percolate a little. Maybe you will think differently about the idea, maybe not. But you will be thinking, not just reacting.
Late again today due to an eye procedure this morning, my vision is still a little blurry so apologies for any typos.
I had to read through all the comments to see if anyone else would mention the use of POKE in a sexual context and @Beezer did, sort of. In England and elsewhere it's rather explicit. Anyway, here's my story:
In 1971 my wife and I did a European tour with our backpacks and our LLBean puptent and our Eurail Pass and our copy of "Europe on $5 A Day". We were in The Netherlands and made the acquaintance of Neil and June, a lovely couple from NZ who let us hitch a ride with them in their caravan (trailer) all the way to a campground outside London. There we were one early morning, I on the bottom bunk and my wife on the top, wehn I found a broom next to me and decided to bother her in ways that you can imagine when someone is in the top bunk. Poor woman was not enjoying this at all and kept yelling "Stop poking me! Stop poking me!" Our hosts could not contain their laughter and POKE has almost always meant only one thing at our house since then.
Really liked this one, AJ. A Jewel. Wonderful how one word can evoke a whole time in our lives, and thanks for all the fun.
@MetroGnome it's often used as a noun e.g. "John and Sandy are my ride-or-dies, I know they have my back"
@jberg (12:32). Thanks. Twitter!
The thing about "openly gay" that makes it useful in some contexts is that it acknowledges that there have been more gay people around than was generally recognized. For example, if you say that Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay cabinet member (I don't know whether that's the case, but work with me here), you're saying that there may well have been other gay cabinet members, but he's the first one to be open about it.
Like others, I struggled a bit with AI WEIWEI and EID MUBARAK, but I was happy to see their inclusion. I knew latter, though I had some trouble with the spelling. As for the Chinese artist, his name was unfamiliar, though when I looked him up I realized that I knew of him. He deserves to be known for his brave actions far more than some "reality show" stars that occasionally show up in the puzzle. Both entries were easily solvable with their crosses.
I’m inspired by LMS to stop lurking and post a comment with my new blue-ness. It takes me a long time to muddle through a Friday puzzle although over the years I’ve been lurking here, I my skills are vastly improved.
We had WeiWei’s bicycle sculpture here for some months and it was a special thing to be able to see it.
@Suzy (1:20 PM) yw 😊
@Greendot (1:20 PM)
Looks good! 👍
@D Orr (4:02 PM)
Welcome aboard! 🛳
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Earlier this week the Washington Post had an extended piece about the relationship between Chris Evert & Martina Navratilova over the years. One of the highlights was a retelling of Martina jumping down the throat of a reporter who asked her about being "openly gay", as opposed to "closedly gay", or just a gay woman living her life. Of course, Chris had her back all those years, and was her Maid of Honor at her wedding. Decency exists, or at least it did back in the day.
While solving, this puzzle felt as if it were trying too hard to do something, what I don't know. Perhaps it was SESH, perhaps it was the appropriation of RIDEORDIE, or whatever, but it was someone trying to impress me, when I didn't talk to anyone in the first place. Did I ever tell you that when my stomach growls, I frequently think it's someone talking to me? True Dat.
I’m sorry, RIDEORDIE may be a slogan applicable to bikers but has zero to do with “loyal to a fault”.
Zero. Nothing.
@kishef 2:27pm… words of wisdom!
@pablo…omg…hilarious! I WILL say my daughter was quite old enough for me to “comfortably” ask my question but even so, MY mind went into the gutter when she said “Mom, NEVer poke people”!
Bisexual here and I have loads of gay friends. I dont really see the offense in OPENLY GAY - though it does seem dated.
As a native Texan, like me would say, this was dang hard. Sorry that people are suffering with this heat . I actually don’t mind it , well, because I got used to it in Texas during wonderful starry skies and temps in the 90s. When I was in Austin at UT it got up to 120º F. People actually fried eggs on the sidewalks. I was going to grad school in London in 1972 and one day in the summer the temp went above 80 and everyone took their shirts off in the squares . Tavistiock..Bloomsbury— the most wonderful district of London.
Can hardly wait to read things by AIWEIWEI. Fascinating name?
My reaction when it first appeared in the Times puzzle. Not as bizarre as you imply. But it is current slang. Slang is slang.
Why is cool cool?
This slang is part of a story. Like hold my beer. Said when someone is about to do or has just done something stupid. I am too lazy to look it up but ride or die looks to be something similar
Formal rewording : loyal unto death?
I tripped on the Abba clue because the show has only been going on for just over a year. How is that long running? I just double checked and it opened May 2022.
We are talking slang here, not a thesis. Anyway, based on what was said above, it is from ‘50’s bikers referring to loyalty among bikers. Started as 2 verbs and then over 70 years, as words often do, meanings changed and now it applies to a too loyal person. That is the way language works, especially slang.
Nothing odd about it
@dgd…I’m 68. Never heard RIDEORDIE but I was fine with it and I was born in ‘55. I’m totally good with learning NEW slang even if it was coined when I MIGHT have been a baby. 😀
Friday is my favorite crossword day and this one was an absolute gem. Super entertaining and much fun. I rate it A plus!
I am at a loss how to take the @Magoo comment ? My reaction to that clue and answer about OPENLYGAY was that it was horribly
offensive to gay persons, human beings. It treats people as somewhat abnormal.
Maybe I just occupy different circles, but “Ride or die” is something I hear reasonably often both as a modifier “I’m ride or die for my best friend” and as a noun “My best friend is my ride or die.” My issue with the clue is that I don’t get the sense of “loyal to a fault.” The way I’ve always heard it has more the meaning of “unconditional loyalty,” which probably isn’t all that different, but the tone is different
Crazy hot early this year. I really feel for those of you up north suffering way too early. It’s been over 100 4 times already down here and that’s too early as well, but climate change is a hoax, right?
This puzzle might have been too easy for Friday but the clues were so much fun - except for GOO. I have never heard a baby say anything close to that, but whatever.
No time right now, my NWSL Red Stars (for those of you not aware that women’s footie is a big deal) just went ahead of Houston.
Thoroughly enjoyable Friday.
Eid Mubarak is not only fair in general as a crossword entry, for the reasons others have mentioned above. It is also timely, since this year’s Eid Al Adha (commemorating the devotion of Abraham and sparing of Ishmael) was just celebrated about a week ago.
For those wondering about the connection with the former Egyptian president: Eid means holy day/holiday, and Mubarak means blessed. The latter word is used in many other contexts, including as a surname. According to forebears.io, “The surname Mubarak is the 2,327th most commonly used surname internationally”. It is cognate with the name Barack, which also means blessed.
Made my day!
Loren, you are the best. What can I say but “Thank you!”
Pretty good. My last square was the K in POKES-EIDMUBARAK. Had POstS before POKES. I am not big on Internet lingo in a crossword. The SW corner was GUMmed up because I had caNS before TINS. Besides that, it was smooth sailing.
Well...not "easy" or anything NIGH. But some hard brainwork and a few lucky guesses, and I WAS DONE, EDITed DOWN from IWASNTDONE.
Noticed: NEOPETS/PETCO. I suppose a little red checkmark would have to go there, but it's far from a deal breaker. This is a good puzzle.
Really had to get EIDMUBARAK square by square, but crosses left little choice. Started NE with OPUS/KURT/PUBGAMES; thought it was going to be a cakewalk. Um, not. I see the point about OPENLYGAY; sounds like "openly kleptomaniac" or something. Almost an oxymoron.
A TON of triumph points: birdie.
Wordle birdie as well.
PASS TESTING
The TWINS said, "WE'RESODEAD",
"but these GAMES of RIDEORDIE we WON!"
"That WAS a FREESAMPLE", I said,
"with all MODESTY, IWASN'TDONE."
--- KURT ARAGON
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