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Johnnycake grain / SUN 7-16-23 / Certain tree-hugger / D.C. lobbying group with a Star of David in its logo / Savory pastry whose name comes from the Spanish for "breaded" / Wilford who co-starred in 1985's Cocoon / Movement whose name may derive from the French for "hobbyhorse"
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Constructor: Michael Schlossberg
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD (23A: Fresh pair of loafers?)
- CAMPAIGN PROMISES (38A: Forerunners of flip-flops?)
- PARKING TICKET (46A: Slip before putting on a boot?)
- LIQUID PLUMR (67A: Noted name in clogs?)
- SNAKE HANDLERS (83A: Collectors of moccasins?)
- ARTIFICIAL HEARTS (95A: Custom-fitted pumps?)
- WATERGATE BURGLARS (112A: 1970s-era sneakers?)
Reb (Yiddish: רב, /ˈrɛb/) is a Yiddish or Hebrew honorific traditionally used for Orthodox Jewish men. It is not a rabbinic title. In writing it is abbreviated as ר׳. [...] When addressing someone directly, Reb is usually used with the first name only ("May I help you, Reb Chaim?"). In other circumstances, it can be used with either the first name or the full name ("This is Reb Chaim Jacobs."; "Would you please help Reb Chaim?"). In formal written address, it is usually used along with the full name. (wikipedia)
• • •
AIPAC is not great fill on its face (it's a pretty ugly letter-salad acronym, and I initially struggled to remember what the "AI" part even stood for) ("American Israel"), and its support for Trumpist candidates makes it even less appealing (11A: D.C. lobbying group with a Star of David in its logo). This from The Guardian:
Earlier this year, Aipac was accused by other leading supporters of Israel of being “morally bankrupt” and of putting Israel’s interests ahead of American democracy after it launched a separate political action committee that endorsed 37 Republicans candidates who voted against certifying Biden’s victory after the 6 January 2021 storming of the Capitol.
The spokesperson for J Street (a more liberal pro-Israel group) is particularly scathing in his assessment of AIPAC, calling them a "Republican front organisation that strongly supported Donald Trump." This is a debut for AIPAC. Can't say I'm eager to see it again. On the less distasteful side: EMPANADA! Never gonna be sad to see EMPANADAs in my grid (87D: Savory pastry whose name comes from the Spanish for "breaded"). TABLE HOP is another nice longer answer. I'm not what you would call a social butterfly, but I would TABLE HOP if EMPANADAs were at stake. "Hey, how are you, do you mind if I sit down for a second? ... and eat this? ... [snarfing sounds] ... [mouth still half full] OmfKay, vell, fwas luffly to shee youaawll, I behher keep minghwing" [leaves in search of more EMPANADAs]... Also loved seeing QAT today, mostly for its cool "U"-less "Q" spelling (69D: Chewable stimulant).
I don't really know what RUE is, and the clue didn't even come close to helping (28A: Plant also called herb-of-grace). I also don't really know what NICKERS is when there's no initial "K." I'm just not horsey enough, I guess. Didn't have much trouble today except when I wrote in "SAVE ME!" before "SAVE US!" (4D: Plea to a superhero), or when I spent several seconds trying to figure out how any answer, let alone a longer answer, could end in "-MR" (LIQUID PLUMR). Ah, wacky brand spellings, always good for a laugh, or a harrowing "wtf!?" Startled to see ELVIS here—well, no, not startled to see ELVIS: startled to never have heard of the movie he is alleged to have starred in (78D: Star of the 1965 comedy "Harum Scarum"). I can name at least 10 ELVIS movies off the top of my head (I'm fairly confident) and I can at least identify the rest of them as movies, but "Harum Scarum," wow, that one missed my radar entirely (oh, man, there are apparently thirty-three (!?!?!) ELVIS movies, and more mystery titles than I would've thought possible: "Stay Away, Joe"? "Double Trouble"? "Paradise, Hawaiian Style"? I know "Blue Hawaii," but apparently they went back to the Hawaii well at least once more. Wow. "Harum Scarum" sounds ... deeply regrettable:
The idea of Presley playing a movie star who gets confused for the characters he plays on film is a clever one, and this film is determined to completely ruin it. Presley gets kidnapped in a regressive Middle Eastern country and forced to assassinate a local ruler, in a film which lets lots of white people play Arab roles (yikes) and romanticizes harems (double yikes), to the point that a little kid sings a song about how she dreams of being a glamorous, beautiful slave (all the yikes in the world). (TheWrap.com)
Why (why!?) would you use this as your go-to ELVIS movie. There are [rechecks notes] 32 other ELVIS movies to choose from! Obscure *and* repugnant. Not sure what the editors were doing there. Or anywhere today. Just not my cup. I do hope you enjoyed it more than I did.
One last note for the northeastern crowd (so, I'm guessing, a lot of you): The Boswords crossword tournament is *in person* (woo-hoo!) as well as online this summer, and it's Next Week. Here's the pertinent info from tournament organizer John Lieb:
Registration is open for the Boswords 2023 Summer Tournament, which will be held on Sunday, July 23. This event will be both In-Person and Online. Solvers can compete individually or in pairs. To register, to see the constructor roster, and for more details, go to www.boswords.org, where past tournament puzzles are also available for purchase.
A reminder that tournaments are pretty low-key events full of very nice and nerdy people like yourself. You should give one a try, you won't regret it. I can't go to Boswords because I'll be doing absolutely nothing on the shores of Lake Superior, but someday I'm going to try to make it up there. Boston (and environs) = one of the puzzliest places in the country. Herds of solvers just roaming the ... Common? Turnpike? Harvard Square? Anyway, I have a few good friends there, and I'm eager to get back.
See you next time.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.P.S. ALA = American Library Association (14D: Org. with a "Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books" list)
P.P.P.S. If you missed it this week, please treat yourself to this New Yorker crossword by Andy Kravis. I promise you, you’ll love it. And you’ll learn thing about yourself! A truly remarkable puzzle.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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109 comments:
This puzzle reminded me of my 11th-grade biology class where we each had to deal with an "open toad".
I really wanted "Make the Rounds at a Restaurant" to be bartend, but too many spaces. That's all I've got.
Finished with some errors; tried to figure out the theme with no luck. Thought the theme was... games? HEARTS is a card game... is SNAKE one? GIANTS? PARKING? (that sounds like a really lame game). BURGLARS? (could be interesting) CAMPAIGN (role playing game?) SAND BUTT? I never thought to concentrate ONLY on the clues rather than the answers. Quite an anticlimax.
I thought the "herb-of-grace" would be RYE; never heard of RUE. I thought there was at least a B in LIQUID PLUMR. Kealoa ETSY before EBAY.
A couple of clues were quite clever, esp. "1970s era sneakers?" And "Networker" for GOALIE... okay. My nephew's daughter is a hockey goalie, and they would often stay over if she had a game here the next morning. Once she was at goalie school here (yes it's a thing!), and he asked if several of her friends could also stay, and I texted back "I have to borrow some foamies first", which autocorrect changed to "goalies". True! Eerie!
[spelling Bee: Sat 0, my last 2 words this 8er and its past tense. QB 4 day streak!]
Totally agree with Rex on this one. Got the theme quickly, but it was odd, didn’t make total sense and was a chore to finish.
The slip before putting on the boot is the parking ticket (on a slip of paper), and the boot is what they put on the wheel to immobilize the vehicle. I enjoyed all the puns in this one. Agree on the Elvis clue… WHY THAT title??? Never ever have I heard of the Fields award; there were an awful lot of really REALLY obscure trivia based clues.
I just kept picking away at this one and never got any sort of flow at all. Still my time was on the quick side, so sloggy not sloggy?
I felt a little grumbly and needed to work from bottom to top, but when I landed on BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD last thing, I laughed and laughed. I've never seen an episode of the show, but certainly know of it. I can imagine our constructor jumping out of his chair when he realized he could pull this off. We'll celebrate this as the mother of all Tee-Hees. Well, with a head bob at SEXED.
Theme was strained at best, but cute in a foot fetishy kinda way.
QAT: Sheesk. Really?
No A/C, no elevator, and just carried my old 30-pound dog up 11 flights. Nothing is ever easy.
Uniclues:
1 Jokey greeting between two office holders with disdain for the electorate.
2 The ones who actually pay up.
3 Arty-farty floor coverings flattered.
4 Subject of controversy regarding who gets to take the wrinkled one home for the summer.
5 Advertisement's talking "bear" moment supporting endangered species in Australia.
1 HOW'S CAMPAIGN PROMISES?
2 PARKING TICKET B-TEAMS
3 DADA CARPETS HAILED
4 CLASS WAR ELDER TURTLE
5 "SAVE US" KOALA ASIDE
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Chorus member's lament. I LOSE SOLO PARTS
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I was prepared to LMTR because I found the theme agreeably amusing and THOUGHT I had finished perfectly. Alas, I had assumed "what a doll" meant a tEN! So I naticked out after all. So sad, because I had after half an hour of brain-racking successfully sussed out that dreadful PPP chunk at the top (DEIRDRE/ESAU/DUDS, etc)... was feeling pretty pleased with myself, and now this. That's my BEEF and I'm stickin' to it....
YES, @Rex....EMPANADAS rule the palate in this house....I make them all the time. My dough is made with cream cheese and butter. My very odd, but favorite filling... black beans with pork that has been slowly cooked with a mole sauce. I'm hungry now!
I'm going to patent my recipe...
I had lots of fun with this puzzle. It kinda went with my background music, and my down time - me time relaxation, and reminiscing about BEAVIS AND BUTT HEAD.
What else did I like? All of them! BUT.....Where in the world is a TURTLE a chocolate pecan confection? Ay Dios mio...Poor TURTLE.
Nothing really gave me trouble. I even knew all the names.
This was different and I liked it, Michael. Shall we see more of you?
ANT alert... and my latest plight. Do any of you ant people know how to get rid of small little ones without resorting to murder? I'm serious here. I'm not sure where they come from and I clean my kitchen counter with vinegar but they always find a little crumb to eat and take back to Mamacita. They're kinda cute, in that industrious way, but I don't want to have blood on my hands.
Do I sound absolutely nuts? I can use your help....
I did not even realize what the theme was until I was almost done. What does WATERGATEBURGLARS have to do with ARTIFICIALHEARTS? I wondered. Near Natick at AIPAC/ALA but I guessed right, thinking American Library Association or something similar. LIQUIDPLUMR??? ouch. Can someone explain 92D Low whinnies NICKERS ? I have seen knickers but not nickers.... not sure what that is about. Finished with no errors, no write overs and no googles so I guess it was kind of “easy”. Enjoyed it Thanks Michael S.
Easy except for a couple of typos/misreads. Smooth and breezy, a pretty good Sunday, liked it quite a bit more than @Rex did.
Did not know ELEANORA as clued.
Had fun. The boot is the
Denver boot that is attached to the wheel, so you can’t drive.
I always find these forced themes with clues that don’t really fit the answer without a lot of squinting a bit painful but at least this was at the easy end for me at 15 mins to complete, despite some complete unknowns like the plumr one…
Lost my streak to a frickin' typo :(
Never seen QAT in an NYT puzzle, but it shows up a lot in Scrabble games! I solve in the iOS app, a bunch of the clues were underlined for no reason - I kept thinking it must be part of the theme and waiting for the other "shoe" to drop (ha ha.)
When I saw the title, I was prepared for some kind of “foot”/12 inches dealie. Or maybe adding a syllable to words to create iambs. SNAKE HANDLERS was my first themer to fall, and I smiled. Settled in to uncover the other re-imagining of all the shoes. I agree that the clue for PARKING TICKET was a bit of a stretch – plus, it’s the only clue that has the shoe as a singular. But what a terrific way to showcase some of the ambiguous names we have for shoes. Mules, platforms, slides, crocs. . . Hah! I enjoyed this a lot.
I rather liked the twist that the wordplay occurs in the clue and not the entry.
I was so lost at one point, I almost wrote in “C flat” as the starting point for soul singers, thinking, Man, the stuff I learn from crosswords. Oops.
@GILL I – those EMPANADAS sound delicious. Good luck with those ants. I heard if you sprinkle instant grits around the foundation of your house, ants will eat them, the grits will grow and expand in their tummies, and then. . . well, it’s gruesome murder, so never mind.
@Joaquin – “open toad” – good one!
Liked the family AFFAIR crossing Romeo and Juliet’s FEUD. Shakespeare never told us what their BEEF was.
“Result of a perm” – hmm. We women of a certain age probably all have a Bad Perm Story. Unfortunately, my bad perm happened the night before I left for Europe, first stop a Commemoration Ball for Oriel College in Oxford. Mom gave me a home perm, and we decided to use the really small rollers so that the perm might last longer. Jeez Louise. My date, Oxford scholar Fabrice B., must have been horrified at the startling poof top I was sporting when he picked me up. I couldn’t do a thing with it; it was exactly the short, poofy style an 80-year-old woman would have, except mine was brown. The juxtaposition of that hair with my sexy black dress. . . I was a spectacle, and the memory still makes me cringe.
SWAG – the conferences I attend all give you the same stuff: canvas tote, pen, notebook. I’m powerless not to transfer my daily needs to that damn tote, take notes in the new notebook using the new pen. I would imagine that the cooler attendees pack the SWAG away to take home and give their kids. Not me, buddy. I lean in hard to be a full participant.
My daughter (vet) recently used the word SEXED, but as a real verb. She was talking about some puppies or kittens or whatever, and she said that they hadn’t been SEXED yet, meaning they hadn’t checked the genders. I could reimagine using that ED as an abbreviation for education all day. Ya know, classes that people take:
big headed – for the therapist specializing in narcissism
broken hearted – for the future cardiologist.
birdbrained – for the avian neurologist
large breasted – for the plastic surgeon
rearended – for the budding proctologist
Why so much Judaism? ESAU, REB, AIPAC, ISRAEL.
Didn't know AIPAC so there was almost a Natick, but I figured a group of librarians was probably called either ALA or NLA, so my choices were limited.
I'm pretty sure there was another Natick somewhere else but I can't be bothered find it again. Lots of PPP but that's to be expected in a big grid.
I appreciate that the theme clues are trying (and usually succeeding) to be clever, but like @Rex, the theme overall fell flat. Punny clues that just happen to contain names of footwear? Sure, go for it if it floats your boats (see what I did there?).
Overall ok. I'll take it and not worry about it.
I liked that the puzzle starts with a rhythmic rhyme:
TECS DEIDRE AIPAC AGO
ALLA ISSUED UTILE MOW
I liked the rhyming cross of WAZE and MAIZE. And, speaking of rhymes, I liked that the shoes were in the clues.
I liked seeing FLAT in the shoe puzzle.
I adored the PuzzPair© of WALKONS and CARPETS.
I liked the trio of different oo’s in FLU, RUE, and ADO and the ten schwa-ending answers.
But what I liked most of all were the theme answers and their clues, all of which made me smile, and most of which were riddles that required a leap to get. My brain, above all, wants a puzzle that requires me to get cracking, and it loved the leaps. My favorite was [Fresh pair of loafers?] for BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD, perfect! That combo sang. That was art.
So yes, this was greatly to my liking, a splendid outing. Thank you so much, Michael!
Shoe puns filling a Sunday sized grid? Doomed from the start.
TURTLEs all the way down
Humor was corny* but puzzle was fine.
Just hope TEX doesn’t Trigger** anyone.
* foot joke
** nickering horse joke
I thought this theme was fun and highly original.
I did come perilously close to a DNF in two places. Did not know REB, and when the 'eb' came in, hEB was going to go in. And I had absolutely no idea on 5A so something Irish-sounding like SAIDHE was next. Fortunately, DISC finally came to me, which cleaned up enough to finish that section. REB stills sounds off, though. I grew up in a majority-Jewish area of Maryland and have never heard that.
Then there was TAO, which could have gotten a normal clue but instead got little-known proper name clue. GROSS was not obviously right to me, so that cross was a guess.
Despite which, a rare Sunday pleasure.
I really enjoyed this puzzle and felt Rex was going to have only positive words to say about it. I felt some of the non-theme answers were great and enjoyed trying to figure out the theme answers.
C'mon guys, have some fun. Its a stinking game---puzzle
The one day of the year that I actually enjoy the theme and the consensus seems to be that it’s a dud, lol. I thought the clue for PARKING TICKET was spot on, for example.
I wasn’t in the mood to parse through Billie Holiday, Ozymandia, star names from constellations et c, so I invited Uncle Google to join the party today (he’s really, really good the the trivial stuff - very impressive!).
Rex (and others) really analyze the theme entries - I just realized it had something to do with feet/shoes and left it at that. Not sure why the shoe/foot part can’t be the first part of one clue and the second part of another, but boy does Rex pay close attention. Who cares, at least they weren’t in Latin (for today at least).
Is TABLE HOP a phrase that one encounters in the wild every now and then - perhaps what a bride and groom do at a wedding reception ? Would seem weird to watch OFL wandering around our local watering hole scarfing down any spare EMPANADAS he may set his sights on.
PS - look at Rex's P.P.P.S. recommendation of the New Yorker puzzle. It is a very noteworthy puzzle, probably best solved online.
I really liked the theme and thought all the clue/answer combos were great, and “slip before the boot” was actually my favorite. I loved that the answers had nothing to do with shoes. I’d grouse about Rex’s curmudgeonliness but the hilarious EMPANADAs riff makes up for it. +1 to wanting @Gill’s recipe or, better yet, a shipment of them. And @LMS, I laughed out loud at your SEXED takeoffs.
I may be the only commenter who has actually chewed QAT. I went to Yemen for work (before it devolved into tragic chaos). Men chew qat openly, all afternoon and evening, big cheek bulges everywhere. Women chew in private, and never do they chew together. But I was working with journalists and people in the NGO world and was invited to a co-ed qat-chewing party. Only one husband-and-wife pair let me take a picture of them. Everyone else feared the consequences if they were seen chewing with members of the opposite sex. (I didn’t publish anything anyway.) Chewing gives you a mild high. It’s called a stimulant but I think the net effect is more like a downer than an upper.
Thx, Michael; no loss of 'fizz' on this one! 😊
Easy.
Smooth solve; and no fat finger typos to 'boot'.
Great theme!
Fresh pair of loafers was my fave.
One of my fave Sun. puzzes! :)
___
Sat. Stumpers: Mossberg's was a gem! Med dif, but a very worthy challenge, nonetheless.
___
On to the NYT' acrostic by David Balton & Jane Stewart at xwordinfo.com
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
The puzzle hit the ground running with the clue at 1A being Gumshoes.
And, speaking of gumshoes, I see the FBI's Footwear Division uncovered another slipper cell.
Thongs for the memories, Michael.
First time in a while I've completed a Sunday puzzle without an error or two.
A word of congratulations to Mr. Schlossberg; I had a lot of rejections myself, so I gave up trying to get published...maybe I'll try again. Good work.
Very cute
I enjoyed it too. I'm in neighboring Mt. Kisco!
No where ever in the history of mankind has anyone called gumshoes tecs
First word in was TECS*, last was TEX, so there’s some symmetry for ya.
The theme was a weird one, but the answers were all undeniably real phrases and some of them were really good - the 70s sneakers was a nice one to end on. The boot/slip one was one clue that didn’t really work on its own but I’m not coming up with a better one off the top of my head - maybe “it might give you the boot”? That feels less directly tied to footwear though.
Enjoyed the clues for GOALIE, AYE AYE and a few others.
All the memories that slip through the cracks of time, why does DEIDRE Hall stick? Couldn’t remember the last vowel though - my niece’s name is spelled with an A.
* I don’t recall ever seeing TEC outside of crosswords, and I’ve read more than my share of mysteries. I finally got curious and looked it up its origin today and had my daily “duh” moment early - it short for deTECtive.
Why is it noteworthy? I went and did it and wasn't particularly impressed. It didn't seem any better or more notable than any random NYT Friday.
Hey All !
Yes, I can enjoy an EMPANADA now and again, except today, when I spelled it EMPANeDA, because BURGLeRS is not spelled BURGLARS. Dang.
My one-letter DNF ASIDE, thought this was a neat puz. Clues using shoe types to mean something else. Wordplay! Each Themer got a 'Heh' from me. Some better than others, but all chuckle worthy.
Who knew Silly Putty was made by CRAYOLA? Not just crayons, interesting.
QAT should be a relatively known word for all the Scrabblers we have here. Speaking of, nice Scrabbly East-Center section, with a W, Z, X.
Even @M&A's weejects get in the wordplay act, MOW clued as "Cut back a lot?" Nice.
Good SunPuz. Trying to break a record today is Las Vegas for highest ever temp. Record currently stands at 117. C'mon 118!
Four F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Thought themes fun puns. Got BEAVISANDBUTTHEAD right away, but then bogged down on the rest. For example, ran through SNAKEcatcher and charmer before HANDLER confirmed the likely crosses. Started out well only because TEC seems to be much used crosswordese, but struggled with the PPP that followed. Overall a very slow Sunday solve, but a lot of rain this morning made it a good indoor alternative.
An unusual idea for a theme in which the clue/answers are executed with a lot of imagination and flair. My favorites by far were CAMPAIGN PROMISES and ARTIFICIAL HEARTS. The others were perfectly fine, if not nearly as funny or surprising. I had no idea how to spell LIQUID PLUMR and was very happy when RHONES came in. I had initially been thinking LIQUID PLUMB, but neither BORDEAUX nor BURGUNDY fit.
The one I don't get is PARKING TICKET. I get the "slip" but not the "boot" part of the clue. Is "boot" another word for a tow? Or is boot the part of the car on which you place the TICKET? I thought you placed the ticket on the windshield.
Good non-themer clues for AYE AYE (59A), CHOIR (79A), and GOALIE (12D). GOALIE was hard to see because I had AFT instead of AGO for "Back" (16A).
A kealoa in the puzzle: TWIRL/SWIRL. I wrote down WIRL and waited.
There seemed to be a lot of abbrevs and other glue holding this together, but basically it was a fun solve.
Am I the only one who needs help understanding the moccasin gag?
Had to finish there, clueless, after breezing through the rest of the puz in near record time.
I have very fond memories of watching BEAVISANDBUTTHEAD with my young children while my wife would occasionally stride through the room while shaking her head and muttering “I can’t believe you’re watching that garbage.” We absolutely loved it.
It’s just as well that the 12th president died in office. Most historians feel that, had he not, the electorate would have decided to Chuck Taylor.
@GILL I. For your kitchen problem, try a prayer to the god of Formicidaeic wars, ANTARES.
More puns= funner puzzles IMHO. Thanks for a good time, Michael Schlossberg.
@Anon 9:42 - I don't want to post anything that will spoil it for others. If you solved online, go back and look at the completed grid, and read the note.
I know "rue" from Hamlet; it's one of the flowers Ophelia gathers to make a necklace (?) Tough puzzle, but I enjoyed it. Was really stuck on Liquid Plumr until I got qat...
This was okay, but I'm not crazy about puzzles where the theme resides solely in the clues and has no visibility in the completed grid.
Had a near Natick at AIPAC/ALA, but __PAC seemed logical for a D.C. group; though the acronym actually stands for American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Did not understand what the "boot" was in the PARKING TICKET clue until I came here. I haven't driven a vehicle in years, and while I received a ticket or two in my time, I somehow was unaware of the "boot" phenomenon. Towing, yes; boot, no.
We get a little menagerie with BEETLE, SNAKE, TURTLE, OX, EAGLE, KOALA, ORCAS, and MUTT.
Elvis was cranking out three movies per year in the late 1960's. I don't think I saw a single one of them, but they were always on TV.
Fun fact: MAIZE was one of the first eight colors "retired" by CRAYOLA in 1990.
It's a...
I liked it more than Rex. Appropriate seeing Family AFFAIR and FEUD hanging out together in SW corner.
I guess I'm not impressed by that. It's been done before at least once, and I think a few times. I guess I'm still missing something here?
I really appreciated Rex’s funny EMPANADA hop, much needed after reading the AIPAC citation.
The LMS take on “eds” was also LMAO-worthy.
As for the puzzle, another Sunday slog, particularly GRIM compared to last week’s delight. I like punny puzzles, but too much stretching was required here and too many answers were green paint-ish.
Looks like a fun puzzle today and - shoe fanatic that I am - maybe one I should have opted to do.
@Liveprof: Leftover from yesterday, I agree with @Nancy that you win the prize for the funniest blog profile. LOL!
@GILL: Vinegar is the only thing I know of which actually does work to repel ants, but it’s only effective until the scent fades. I tried cinnamon once and all I got was a stained countertop. They’re so bad where I live that there’s really no choice except to resort to cold blooded murder. I have used the TERRO brand products and found them to be effective. They are primarily known for the little traps that you set inside where the ants are active and they do work. And I have used their granular treatment that you sprinkle around the foundation of your home which also proved to be a big help.
@Loren: I laughed at your perm story but it brought back horrifying memories of my own bad hair days in high school. I have one particularly painful class picture reminiscent of your experience. But that link you posted actually showed some pretty attractive styles for the [ahem] ladies of a certain age.
@EdFromHackensack - I had the same question regarding nickers. I know knickers as being underwear. But nickers? I do not think anyone has answered you yet
Moccasins are a type of snake. I personally have been driven out of a swimming hole by a water moccasin, but the term is apparently used for Cottonmouth snakes as well.
Well this puzzle may have been a disappointment but @Rex never disappoints. Laughing out LOUD here, big belly laughs in fact, especially at “I’m not horsey enough” and “obscure AND repugnant”. You are the highlight of my morning today since this puzzle clearly was not.
@whatsername --- thank you!
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. A fun, breezy solve and I liked the shoe theme much better than Rex. Some great answers although "parking ticket" isn't much fun. Not too many proper names and even the short stuff wasn't terrible. My favorite Sunday in a while.
@Nancy - a boot is a device the city uses that clamps onto one of the wheels of a car to prevent it from being driven or towed. Typically used for vehicles that are deep in arrears with unpaid traffic/parking violations.
Just Google it. Jeez!
Hamlet, Act IV, Scene 5. . Ophelia says to the Queen, "There's rue for you; and here's some for me. We may call it herb of grace a Sunday's. O, you must wear your rue with a difference."
Apparently rue (which is quite bitter)was a symbol of repentance. Also a symbol of adultery, hence the gift to the Queen.
It's a noise horses make.
This was a fun Sunday puzzle with a great theme. All of the theme clues hit the mark, in my opinion. There wasn't a lot of word play in the non-theme fill (Networker = GOALIE, BTEAMS as backup groups, and the visual evoked by TWIRLing to show off a new dress are some of the best) but the theme provided plenty. I see Rex doesn't agree with me, how surprising :-).
23A brings to mind one of my favorite rom-coms, "Notting Hill", where Hugh Grant says "BEAVIS or BUTTHEAD?" to the hotel clerk.
I forgot the elision in the PLUMbeR part of 67A which had me stumped momentarily.
Thanks, Michael Schlossberg!
Rex’s table-hopping comment made me think of this.
@Anon 11:32
Good one, Probably intended for numerous bozo questions.
Slightly off topic but I am happy you called out a New Yorker puzzle. I have really been enjoying those - especially because Liz Gorski is pretty regular. I am way less versed in puzzle constructors than you are, but she's one of the few that I know by name and recognize her clue "fingerprints"; I always like her puzzles.
We usually have captions on when we watch TV, and anytime a horse makes a whinnying sound, the screen says “horse nickers.” My only encounter with that word.
Took the suggestion and did today's New Yorker puzzle (on line). I am an innocent! After finishing, I thought nice puzzle - but impressive??! Then left the page and returned again. The brilliance (and, again, I repeat my innocence) became clear. Very clever.
I hereby proclaim my innocence!!! I took the suggestion to do The New Yorker puzzle (I did it on line) Finished. Nice puzzle. Left the page. Returned to the page to try to fathom 'remarkable," and there it was!!! I repeat I am an innocent!
To me this was almost a themeless, with some marvelous tricky, funny clues. Except easier because I knew the shoes were puns. Along with several other fun clues. I enjoyed it a lot. And so what if AIPCA supports much that I oppose. I ignore them. Easy,but great puzzle anyway.
Folks beat me to RUE being from "Hamlet" so now I don't get to act all smart. Oh well.
Had the LV part of the answer to "Harum Scarum", and I thought ALVIN? ALVIN and the Chipmunks made a movie? ELVIS showed up and I sort of remembered the movie, but it did spoil some fun.
I used to point out to Spanish students that PAN (bread) is right in the middle of EMPANADA, and that the ADA part usually means -ed in English, and isn't that cool, and the few students who found that interesting got extra points at the end of the marking period. Well, it was MY class after all.
Never heard of QAT, and I've done more than a few crosswords. It's a poor day when you can't learn something.
@Gary Jugert-Hope you get your power back soon. We've got juice but things are getting soggier by the minute. Parts of nearby VT are having real problems, could be worse,
I liked your shoe theme just fine, MS. Mostly Sailed right through it and learned a few things. Thanks for all the fun.
Didn’t love that the theme this week was all in the clues and not in the answers, ie, knowing the theme didn’t help the solve and it solved like a themeless. Also didn’t love the plethora of short answers in the grid design. Wanted “table hop” to be “bartend”, “AIPAC” to be “J street” and “Aye-Aye” to be clued with the lemur.
Favorite answers were Empanada, Goalie, and Brimley.
@Anon 10:44– I don't think you're missing anything. It's clever, but not original.
When a horse nickers, it's making a contented sound. "Nicker" is usually a verb, but it easily becomes a noun just like "laugh," "snort," "grunt," "yelp," etc.
By now I’ve come to expect that when I highly enjoy a puzzle I’ll find the opposite response on this blog … I haven’t commented here in over a year but I loved this constructer’s mind so much, I felt a public compliment coming on, and filling in BEAVISANDBUTTHEAD at the end sealed the deal for me. Thanks for the singular hangover cure Michael!
Turns out ants don't like peppermint oil -- if you can find the hole(s) they're invading from, spray some there. They'll move away. Catch is, if they've taken up residence inside a wall, they'll just seek out another gap to emerge from. Spray again. It becomes a bit like whack-a-mole (and meanwhile the room will smell minty fresh). Ultimately, when you figure out where the ants are entering, you'll need to caulk and seal the gaps.
Most confusing to me is wy Rex and some early commenters didn't get the theme.
It took me a few to see what the theme was, tho I was smiling at the answers as they came along. Then I saw that all the clues named a type of shoe and all the answers were non-shoe uses of the "shoe" word.
Seemed very clear to me. 83A collectors of moccasins earned a smiley face.
(as did 106A What a doll )
And Liveprof's comment above
I thought it was a good puzzle, and Google-free for me. As for EMPANADAs, I wonder if they are ever first-rate outside Argentina. I did go to Chile once, and found them everywhere in Santiago, but not something I could praise. The one thing you will love everywhere in Chile is the fresh fish, especially the congrios (conger eels). But you can also get great freshwater fish from the Andes. And surprisingly good French cuisine in many places. Though not in Chiloe, which was in every other respect the highlight of our trip. Chiloe is pretty much the same as it was when it was part of the Spanish Empire, and occasionally visited by American whalers.
The PARKING TICKET that accompanies the dreaded boot made me think of England. It can be pricey and slow to get the boot removed, so my advice is to overfeed the meter, and set your timer to alert you when your parking time is about to expire.
@jberg here.
It was PARKING TICKET that tipped me off to the trick, so I was fond of it, but really they were all pretty good. All those themers probably limited the number of long downs, but the 8s were fine.
On NICKERS—nothing to explain, it’s just what the clue says. Horses make the sound when they want to comment on something without shouting.
I know Shelley’s poem, but always figured he was a Mede or a Persian or something like that, so I balked at EGYPT. Turns out it’s just what the Greeks called Ramses II.
Any astronomers here? I wanted RED dwArfS to be the dying stars. But GRAS couldn’t be any thing else.
Speaking of GROSS, I always thought gnarly meant supercool, sort of the opposite. Or is it one of those words that can go either way, like “bad?”
I think the Fields Medal gets mentioned in both Good Will Hunting and A Beautiful Mind. But that didn’t help me with Terence TAO.
@Rex wrote:
"P.P.P.S. If you missed it this week, please treat yourself to this New Yorker crossword by Andy Kravis. I promise you, you’ll love it. And you’ll learn thing about yourself! A truly remarkable puzzle."
A hearty AMEN to that! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
@Anonymous 9:42 AM
The online version of the New Yorker puzzle in question has a funny effect after the solve. 🦖 is being silly by encouraging us pearl clutchers to face another gasp-ish situation. He won today since I bit on his bait. I did take time to read up on the psychologist's view on the issue and it appears he said in summary "sometimes it is what it is."
Kinda an extra-long solvequest this mornin … was tryin to watch the Wimbledon championship match, while solvin a few answers durin each of the many many commercial breaks.
Theme had an interestin twist, as @Muse darlin mentioned, where the fun puns were in the clues instead of the answers. As some have mentioned, coulda even had more themers, based on crocs, or heels, or flats, or slippers, etc. [fave: The flip-flops one.]
Did suffer from one abandoned square, at our house: That A of mystery in ?LA/AIP?C. When I finished the puz, I forgot all about goin back and guessin a "U" for there, which woulda been WAMAB*, anyhoo.
staff weeject pick: QAT. Sounds inedible, to m&e. Woulda gone with a clue of: {Qazy ___ comic strip??}, or somesuch.
fave fillin: GOFLAT, which provides hints of shoeyness. Also approved of: REDGIANTS. ELVIS/BEETLE [SOCLOSE to yer rockstar double-header]. ROADTRIP. DUDE. KOALA clue.
Thanx, Mr. Schlossberg DUDE. Nice job. #51 was the charm, on yer SunPuz submissions.
Masked & Anonymo12Us
p.s. *WAMAB=Wrong Again, M and A Breath.
**gruntz**
Someone else posted that water moccasin is a common snake name. Whinny and nicker (new to me) are both synonyms for neigh. Info readily available via Merriam-Webster.
Nine minutes under my average time, but the NICKERS/KEN cross had me typing in random letters until I got to K to finish the puzzle. Then, “Ah, KEN!” followed by “WTH is NICKERS?!?”
Completely agree. I was disappointed when I had to accept that that's all there was to the theme.
Sometimes the gimmick just isn’t worth the trouble. The themers just didn’t land solidly enough for the most part. Poor bugger had about 50 rejects before his Sunday debut. You got to give him credit for not giving up.
@LMS (6:55am):
How about
parroted, a course for an ornithologist
and
closeted, a course for a home organizer
@Loren and @Whatsername -- Although there are some elegant and highly flattering hairstyles on that website LMS linked to, there are also more than a few that make the women look as though they just caught their finger in an electrical socket. Which leads me to caution the hairdressers:
A word to the ones who style the girls:
It's "permanent waves", not "permanent curls".
@Loren and @Whatsername -- Although there are some elegant and highly flattering hairstyles on that website LMS linked to, there are also more than a few that make the women look as though they just caught their finger in an electrical socket. Which leads me to caution the hairdressers:
A word to the ones who style the girls:
It's "permanent waves", not "permanent curls".
Sorry for the dupe. I was told that, "Oops", I had "an error" and to try again.
Yes!! Very fun, especially with the gif-like reveal.
@Nancy (4:32) Nice little ditty you came up with there - and a most important distinction. I have not had a perm in years but as I’ve gotten older and my hair has become less and less . . . and less, I have begun to give it some thought again.
Hi to neighbors CHAPPAQUA and MT KISCO! Lived in Chappaqua for many years …
PLUMBR was my downfall.
Found it overall a bit of a slog but otherwise serviceable.
Why not?
My dnf was the result of thinking we had a weird but clever(?) new answer for the clue "Me, too": AS mOI. That temporarily gave me MADD for the "hobbyhorse" movement--which I should have remembered was DADA.
My issue with the moccasin clue/answer is that SNAKE HANDLERS don't collect SNAKEs, they HANDLE SNAKEs! A SNAKE collector and a SNAKE HANDLER are, in my experience two very different folks.
The BOOT is that contraption they put on illegally parked car tires
Clever !
@Liveprof 11:15
re: your favorite movies, we lived near the Dinklages in Mendham for years and my husband worked with his mom... we live closer to you nowadays (downsized)
I hope you enjoy your time on Lake Superior. I am in puzzle worthy Sault Ste. Marie and wish you the best (better than today’s puzzle at least).
Really! I can only surmise that "tec" is a never used abbreviation for detective???
Whew, took forever to get on this one's wavelength but finally got it. SNAKEcharmERS fit but the crosses didn't work and I honestly don't think you can charm a water moccasin. My youngest once got a snake face painted at a horsey event (plenty of NICKERS from those not competing) and we went to the swimming hole afterwards and, yikes! SNAKE! Parents grabbing their own kids and other people's and hurling them to safety. Later I told my youngster that he had summoned the snake... (no parenting awards that day).
Could not get a foothold on top, so started down below, where the WATERGATE BURGLARS made an appearance. And the brain made the connection.
Working slowly back up, got to DEIDRE, really?? Isn't the name Deirdre? Maybe it is, maybe it's namer's choice.
@Nancy, good one. My mother was not one for home hair experiments, but luckily I had a Midwestern aunt by marriage who home-permed my hair once. Even better, no pictures survive!
Oh, that’s so much better!
what's with "banc"?
@Nancy...Yes! socket frying.
My first perm story.
Before we left (fled) Cuba, I was staying with my parent's best friends. Dad and Mom were trying to get things in order in Miami for my sister and my arrival. What times those were!. Dad was starting to get involved with the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Mom was trying to find us a place to live and I went for a perm in Havana, curtesy of Anne Pinkham...my mom's best friend.
She told me she had a bunch of Cuban pesos that she needed to spend and wouldn't it be nice if my red/auburn very straight hair could be full of luscious curls.
I was young....I was naive....I ended up looking like someone scared the bejesus out of me. I looked that way for about 3 months.
I had to go to a new school in Miami. No one wanted to sit with me and I didn't blame them. I looked frightful. Lucky for me, a Cuban refugee who was a friend of a friend of ours came to stay with us for a while. She had been a hairdresser and almost screamed when she saw me. Cut, cut...snip, snip. She put a million things in my hair and one of those things were jumbo curlers made from coke cans. I couldn't sleep for a week.
After what seemed like 20 years, the curls finally faded. I even played spin the bottle for my first kiss.
Moral of my story? None.
P.S.. Cinnamon sticks and vinegar seems to have worked with my ANT problem. I know they'll probably come back but at least I don't have murder on my hands.
Smith (5:24). We really loved him in The Station Agent. Yes, a lot of it takes place around Rockaway (NJ). I went to that bar once (like a groupie) and had a beer. I should have jumped onto the table and repeated his speech.
We ran into him in Williamston MA in a coffee place years ago. He had an enormous dog. I was too shy to tell him how great we thought he was in TSA. Oh, well. I'm glad his career has gone so well.
Late to the game today... Was at work much of the day.
I actually liked this puzzle. Cute theme! Did not appreciate the PPP crosses at 2D and 43A, and what's up with (ARTIFICIAL)HEARTS crossing HART?
I tried the New Yorker puzzle at Rex's recommendation and liked that too!
It is very old crosswordese. Used to appear more often. Haven’t seen it in quite a while. As Pedroinnh would say hi old friend.
Apparently it was used at some point as slang. Maybe in old noir novels? Valid but very worn out.
Denver BOOT is a metal clamp put on a car tire when the driver has accumulated a lot of unpaid parking tickets.
Hey @dgd-TEC is indeed very old crosswordese, and I know it from reading old noir novels.
However.
It's interesting that you have remembered me as "Pedroinh", as I am certainly not "Pedro". although interestingly enough, by brother's name would translate as "Pedro", and as we're close in age I was often called that in school.
And no, it's just the two of us, and there was never a "Maria".
It’s late, and I have enjoyed both the puzzle and all the comments. Many will know that I’m an older solver who adores a Sunday like this. I knew @Rex would loathe this one big time, and wasn’t wrong.
Sure, big fat Sunday wacky grids can just about always need some polish, and this was no exception. However, the clever theme and its true wackiness really made me smile.
The “game” really is afoot, @Rex. This is such a fine example of a title that very loosely gives the solver a minuscule hint and then leaves plenty for the solver to discover.
“The Game’s Afoot.” To me, the “game” is that the theme clues, all ?s including some type of footwear, and yet the answers have nothing whatsoever to do with the footwear in the clue and instead focus on noun phrases in which the footwear is an adjective that only very tangentially answer the clue’s wacky “?” I thought it was clever and a really tough challenge for our constructor.
So thank you Michael Schlossberg for a very engaging Sunday that gave me plenty of wonderful wordplay and exactly the type of clever, nutsy theme I look forward to each week.
@Nancy, you are blue. If you get a dupe, you can hit the Cancel button, and one will go away.
I am absolutely terrible with names! Not senility. Been that way my whole life. At least I remembered the first letter.
I was less disappointed by this one than Rex, but he knows better. As an ancient (the show is now thirty years old) and aging fan (66) of Beavis and Butthead (pure genius), I loved that clue. Good to see that iconic cultural figures of thoughtful adolescent maledom can make it into the NYT crossword.
My toughest spot was 5-9. I just didn't see it. And I always spell Dierdre with that extra "R." Reb I got, but with uncertainty. And for some reason, the disc never fully reached its destination.
Finally, "laser cuts?" No. "Laser etches," maybe. A laser cut is what Auric Goldfinger was planning to do to James Bond when he had him tied to that big piece of metal in has fantastically modern laboratory of death. THAT is a laser "cut."
Hi Rex - GW humor guy in DC sent me an email asking about you and why one of my songs is on your site. I have no idea why, but thank you. I wrote that song years ago and now it's a kids' science/music book that even got an award from a bunch of scientists.
I have to tell you -- I can't lie -- I am bad bad bad at crossword puzzles. I don't know why. I always got good grades all through elementary school and high school, but in college something happened and I got a D in Astronomy and I've never quite recovered. I'm not sure why "Amoeba Hop" is up on your site with all these really tricky crossword puzzles, and I hope you won't take it down now that you know I'm bad at puzzles.
But I think the nerd in you would like this video - N deGrasse Tyson is in it. He called me at 2 in the afternoon and asked if I'd sing my Pluto song at 8 PM that same night. This despite that D in Astronomy. At https://vimeo.com/230077201 you can hear it, and then take a 10 question quiz at the end. You can ace it if you pay attention.
I just this second got an idea to write a song about crossword puzzles -- it will be a sing-a-long-fill-in-the-blanks kind of song where each line will end with an obvious answer that the audience will shout out out of desperation because I won't be able to figure out what that answer is -- but of course I will know it because I'm going to write the song. But it won't be too highbrow -- or lowbrow -- I'll do my best and someday I hope I'll get good at crossword puzzles, but don't hold your breath.
Ciao!
Christine L.
WOW Christine Lavin. My wife and I are fans of yours. We saw Four Bitchin’ Babes at the Bottom Line decades ago and you solo a few times. I saw your name pop up and thought it was just a common name. GREAT idea about a crossword song... you are so clever and funny it’d be a hoot... Let me know of I can help :) Best regards.
I knew QAT from Scrabble--but never bothered to know what it means; thanks for that. I did NOT know that definition for RUE. Language is weird, when you can have the exact same word mean totally different things.
Up north, I had a -UTTHE- segment near the end of that first long across; unusual combo there... and then I saw it, a nice AAH moment. From there the puzzle played easy-medium.
Yesterday was the day from hell--starting with never getting my paper in the morning. Looking at the answer in today's, I fear I may have missed a good one. Oh well.
I DID do the Wordle, using a stock starter instead of one from the grid I hadn't seen. Maybe should do that more often: almost holed out for an eagle with BGGBB BGGGG GGGGG.
AMIGOS, DUDE
BEAVISANDBUTTHEAD DO ROADTRIP safaris
to GIANTS SO RED AND CLOSE to ANTARES.
--- ELEANORA BRIMLEY
So I worked on this on and off most of the day, and after finishing I was listening to "Selected Shorts" on NPR. Who should show up but ELEANORA, Lady Day herself. Coincidence, huh.
Enjoyed the punny phraseology of this puzzle.
Diana, Lady, (not Day)
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