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Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- STOCK SPLIT (18A: Lover's "It's not you, it's me"?)
- SHRINK WRAP (26A: Psychiatrist's "I'm afraid our time is up"?)
- SHALLOW END (42A: Comment like "Sorry you're upset! Gotta run, late for my nail appointment"?)
The Three-Body Problem (Chinese: 三体; lit. 'Three-Body') is a science fiction novel written by the Chinese writer Liu Cixin. It is the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past (Chinese: 地球往事) trilogy, but the whole series is often referred to as Three-Body. The trilogy's second and third novels are The Dark Forest and Death's End, respectively. The series portrays a fictional past, present and future where, in the first book, Earth encounters an alien civilization in a nearby star system that consists of three sun-like stars orbiting each other in an unstable system. The title refers to the three-body problem in orbital mechanics.The Three-Body Problem was originally serialized in Science Fiction World in 2006 and published as a standalone book in 2008. In 2006 it received the Yinhe [Galaxy] Award for Chinese science fiction, and in 2012 was described as one of the genre's most successful novels of the previous two decades. By 2015, a Chinese film adaptation of the same name was in production. The English translation by Ken Liu was published by Tor Booksin 2014. The translation became the first Asian novel ever to win a Hugo Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel. (wikipedia)
• • •
This one did not quite come together for me. The themer set, in fact the very concept, just didn't quite cohere. SPLIT just doesn't jibe with WRAP and END very well. An END is a finish, and a WRAP is a finish ("that's a wrap!"), but a SPLIT ... sigh, yes, when a couple "splits," they are finished, their coupleness is over, but "It's not you, it's me" is not a SPLIT. It's a "stock" (i.e. cliché) line you might say if *you* are splitting up with someone else. But the puzzle wants me to believe that the line itself is a SPLIT. It's not. Also, what is up with that clue on the third themer. It's a mess. The first two are tight and follow a pattern: [So-and-so's "[line]"]. [Lover's "It's not you, it's me!"?]. [Psychiatrist's "I'm afraid our time is up"?]. And then there's this convoluted mess of a third clue: [Comment like "Sorry you're upset! Gotta run, late for my nail appointment"?]. Not sure what "Sorry you're upset" has to do with any of it. Or "nail appointment" for that matter? One or both of those things is supposed to indicate "shallow"ness, I guess, but the distance between that clue and SHALLOW END is vast, and the waters separating them choppy. Awkward as heck, and totally off-pattern from the much more sharply imagined first two theme clues.
The grid does give you some hefty long Downs to add to your solving pleasure, and while the first two were nice (AT THIS RATE, DREAM HOUSE), their counterparts were both icky to me in different ways. I always find the term FRIEND ZONE somewhat repulsive (28D: Situation involving unrequited love), since it's something one dude says to another, usually mockingly, about said friend's inability to score, but it's super-gendered (only ever said of guys whose desire for a woman isn't returned), and it implicitly assumes that the woman has *done something* to the guy (put him in said zone). There's an undercurrent of hostility to the whole concept. It's also part of this dumb idea that being friends with a woman is some lesser state of being. I'm currently on vacation with my best friend of 30+ years, who (it turns out!) is a woman. We are friends—there is no "zone," and our love is very much requited. So boo to FRIEND ZONE and the bro culture that birthed it. Boo also to YO-YO DIETER and all eating disorder clues (29D: One whose weight goes up and down).
There are three "ON"s in this grid (ON TASK, ON MEDS, IN ON). One too many. Also, probably shouldn't put "End" in your revealer clue ([End of a race...]) when END is in one of your theme answers (SHALLOW END). The whole puzzle was startlingly easy, despite the theme's being not at all transparent. I mostly got the theme answers by just imagining what familiar phrase might fit in the space available. Everything else came almost instantly. PAINT was by far the hardest thing to come up with (45D: Coat that might be satin?). I don't really know paint terms well, so the concept of a "satin" finish didn't register with me at all. I got a WEE smile out of the clue on SIMILES (23A: They use "like" in a non-Valley Girl way). Don't remember much else, as it all flew by. I'm going to fly now, while my wife and friends are still awake. At least I think they are. I don't hear singing any more, but I do hear "Twist & Shout," so hopefully someone is still awake to solve jigsaw puzzles with me. See you tomorrow.
100% agree on the theme not coming together.
ReplyDeleteFRIENDZONE and YOYODIETER really left a bad taste in my mouth as well.
Definitely feel in line with Rex on this one
Easy. Solid and smooth and just delightful. I thought the clues/answers were close enough for crosswords so I liked it quite a bit more than @Rex did. A fine debut!
ReplyDeleteNo WOEs and body before HOST was it for erasures
Agree 100%. Apart from being Monday-level difficulty, the fill was enjoyable for me and I felt the themers were above average for mid-week.
DeleteThis went very fast for me, evidently under 7 minutes. I was a big fan of Cixin Liu's book "The THREE Body Problem" at 33 down (not across, as Rex said), with its very intelligent underlying astrophysics concept. Rex said "my friends are singing Abba at full voice in the next room while solving jigsaw puzzles", sigh, wish I were there.
ReplyDeleteDisagree big time with Rex about the FRIEND ZONE, not disagreeing that it is a male thing, but that is is always said mockingly, aka an "inability to score". That is NOT how I have thought of it... it's when I have a good female friend, that I wish were more than a friend. "Score"?... I'm not looking to "score", I'm looking for a deeper relationship, Rex. I'm sure there is a female equivalent, whatever its label is.
[Spelling Bee: Tues -1, yet again, 6er.]
good to have you Back Rex. The last two days have been brutal. lol.Easy puzzle, more like a Tuesday. I agree with you about the theme.... didnt really come together for me, SHALLOW END? didnt really get that. MADD and SNOB seem to be in there alot lately. Hesitated at FAUN and I never heard of the THREE Body problem. Other than that, no real resistance
ReplyDeleteRex – thanks for missing out on the ABBA singing to do your write-up. I’m envious that you’re in northern Minnesota while I’m dying here in 97-degree humid, muggy, disgusting pea soup.
ReplyDelete@okanaganer – right? I could have lived the rest of my life not knowing I should take offense at FRIEND ZONE. For me the phrase isn’t limited to relegating a male to No Sex status. At all. We have a female teacher at my school who has a wicked crush on the tech guy, but he’s not remotely interested. I could absolutely comment that he has FRIEND ZONEd her. And I feel no sexual/hook-up connotation there. Maybe I’m too naïve. (I used to think “hall pass” meant just that you were allowed to have a crush on someone.)
I liked that WAH WAH crosses WEEP. In my speech, WAH WAH is cry. I’d need a third WAH to imitate a sad trombone.
That SNOB? Who prefers only the highest-priced things? That used to be me. The idea of buying clothes from Walmart was unthinkable. My stuff came from Talbots, Nordstrom, blah blah. Now, though, confined to my teacher’s salary. . . boy howdy do I have a bunch of Walmart stuff, especially theses nifty t-shirt dresses, $11 apiece. Love’em. What’s more, and I can’t believe I’m admitting this, I’ve bought some sweaters and cardigans at this Goodwill-type place near me. I was particularly proud of an elegant Talbot’s grey turtleneck that I bragged to Mom was only $3. Wore it several times before I noticed a pretty significant hole in the back seam connecting the neck part to the body. Oops. No prob, though; I sewed it up and hopefully people are none the wiser. Oh how the SNOBby have fallen.
I’ve brought this up many times – it’s hard for me to pluralize a computer mouse. Either way, it’s startling. If someone says they bought two MICE at Staples, I picture fur and tails. If they tell me they bought two mouses, well, that sounds weird, too, but at least it feels less rodentsome.
For all the Valley Girl “like” haters, I’ll leave you with this piece, written by one of my favorite linguists, John McWhorter. It could be like enlightening if you keep like an open mind. When I read it, I was like, Yes!
You might want to try "computer mices". A la Sylvester.
DeleteMy wife, also an academic buys those same dresses at the Feasts (rides, food and the like ) we have almost weekly on Long Island. Perfect combination of fashion and fine food (we called it everything fried). She gets more compliments on these dresses than any designer clothing she has ever worn!
DeleteWonderful puzzle! And right in my wheelhouse. Loved everything about it.
ReplyDeleteRe: 35A - For the absolute best-ever version of this song, check out the McCartney/Clapton rendition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrTMc2i6Lzc&ab_channel=GeorgeHarrisonVEVO
ReplyDeleteI solved without reading the clues for the longer answers, both across and down. Sometimes that helps. Today it hurt. I had ON cASe at 6D (even though it isn't really in the language) and that delayed me seeing two themers. Other than that self-inflicted error, it was a Tuesday-easy Wednesday with no Abba being sung in the next room.
Finished it quickly because of easy fill. Nice turns of phrase by the constructor, especially with SHRINKWRAP.
ReplyDeletePuzzle had hints of George Harrison:
ReplyDeleteWAH WAHing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBuqbu55BHA
WEEPING:
https://www.ganjingworld.com/video/1fi1khg51p073THafQKK22LdC1u51c?mtm_source=NTDdigital&mtm_medium=GoogleAds&mtm_campaign=PaidAds-2023&mtm_kwd=s&mtm_content=SEM_CA_DSA_Desktop&mtm_cid=19823115557&mtm_group=All-Pages&mtm_placement=allpages&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpOCAo4SsgAMVCc3CBB1ELge8EAAYASAAEgIaNPD_BwE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y
SPLIT = "finish" in a "gotta split!" way? IDK.
ReplyDeleteSHALLOW END - I guess you would be a "shallow" person if you cared more about your nails than a friend who's in a bad mood. But I was expecting something more nail-specific.
FRIENDZONE - I'm not particularly against the term like Rex. As a crossword answer per se I think it's great bonus fill.
Overall easy (Tuesday-level time) but with some nifty clues that made me pause for a bit (SIMILES, KARATS, WHEEL, PAINT). I knew it had to be "something that spins" but I didn't see WHEEL right away, because I didn't know the theme and thought it would be SHRINK'S ___.
Great photo at the lake with shoes in the foreground! The Three-body Problem is a crazy (good) book. Most memorable scene is when they created a human computer using the army.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely about the theme answers. The clues are just a bit off.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to agree with finding FRIENDZONE off-putting in a gendered way. Same with associating getting one’s nails done with shallowness. Just felt off-putting to me.
ReplyDeleteI don’t see any reference to the idea of having your nails done as shallow. It is referring to the speaker as coming up with an excuse on the spur of the moment to get out of a conversation. The speaker is being criticized.
DeleteLooks like friend zone may be morphing as we type. A poster above LMS (?) said it was used at her school referring to a man showing no interest in a woman who is strongly attracted to him. So maybe not as sexist as Rex thinks. Still not a nice thing to say -it’s hopeless!- but I don’t think that makes an answer objectionable.
Welp, I really liked the puzzle. But I also mostly agreed with Rex, particularly about that clunker of a SHALLOWEND clue, and I found myself crossing my fingers that he was back today so I could fully join in the critique without feeling bad. Tbh I’m always confused by folks encouraging Rex to be less critical - even if we disagree, his hot takes are conversation starters, and that’s kind of the point, right? We all care more about this little puzzle game than presumably anyone (or many folks) in our irl lives, and we come here to kibitz about it, and Rex is great at getting the debate flowing, as this morning already indicates. Basically, welcome back OFL and I hope your well-deserved vacation is as magical as it sounds.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, while the rest of the theme worked for me, but that nail salon clue was so oddly specific in ways that were only marginally relevant to the answer that it threw me off. I really liked a lot of the fill, as well.
I’m fully with Rex re: FRIENDZONE. I think this is probably generational/more of a thing for terminally online people, and while I think the phrase *can* be and often is used benignly, and that it can be and less often used for straight women about men. But the fact remains that it is strongly associated with straight male Incel and “pickup artist” cultures for me (brace yourself if you Google) that really reflect a an especially dangerous and gross entitlement to women and their bodies. The fact that I literally don’t know a queer or trans person (and I know hundreds) who I could picture using that term suggests that I’m not alone in that analysis that it’s a term to be avoided. So yep, yuck, but I understand if lacking that frame of reference it feels more benign for other folks.
Googled FRIEND ZONE post-solve. Sounds like it’s not a phrase even worth taking the time to comprehend. Probably ok for CrossWorld. Fortunately, as Rex points out for us on pretty much a daily/weekly basis, one can almost always find something to feign taking offense to if one is inclined to try hard enough. So, I vote to let it slide.
ReplyDeleteAgree that YO-YO DIETER doesn’t sound like much fun either. Maybe we’ll get an upbeat theme/puzzle/grid tomorrow.
WiseWoman - two Harrison tunes, one McCartney (RITA!)
ReplyDeleteThought the theme was fine but agree the fill was “startlingly easy”. Took 3 minutes off my average 10 for Wednesday.
Maybe if I wasn’t such a YOYODIETER, I’d escape the FRIENDZONE more often (neither term offended me).
Enjoy Northern MN - here in Minneapolis, 90s this week…
I just casually checked the forecast for Grand Marais. Low 60s this week??
DeleteThat's.... that's approaching chilly
What the heck?
Agree with most of what Rex said - the overall easiness, the wonkiness of the first themer, the inconsistency in the third theme clue.
ReplyDeleteTwo points on which we disagree. Singing ABBA would always be preferable to working. And there is nothing creepy to me about FRIEND ZONE. In saying that, I'm not denying Rex's experience there. Clearly, he has heard that used only by guys and in a hostile way. My experience is different. I've heard it from men and women, and generally in a sense of wanting a deeper relationship with someone who does not feel the same. Maybe an age thing? I know relatively few people for whom sex is the main driver in a relationship. People are looking for companionship first.
I’m with @LMS on her jealousy of your Minnesota summer sojourn, Rex. I wish I could “summer” in a place like that - another noun that has been verbed. I work for a non-profit, and many of our board members are wealthy East Coasters. (In some cases “wealthy” is why they are on the board.) At our annual May board meeting they are always talking about where they are “summering.” The Hamptons or the Vineyard or some island off the coast of Maine. For the February meeting, many are “wintering” in Florida, some doing “the season” in Palm Beach. They are perfectly nice people, not SNOBs, really, but it’s awkward when they put the summering question to us and we tell them where we are spending our week of vacation at some motel that is whole blocks from the beach. (The worse it sounds, the better. Get out the checkbook, dear.)
ReplyDeleteI liked the theme and didn’t notice the inconsistencies. They are all LINES used to FINISH something, including STOCK SPLIT. Split there could be used as either “splitting up” or splitting as in “hightailing it out of here.” I liked SHRINK WRAP best, and unlike Rex, I liked the specificity of the clue for SHALLOW END. Like my board member’s response to my summering plans.
No objections to FRIEND ZONE or YOYO DIETER either. Others have already defended the first. Yo-yo dieting is not an eating disorder. Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders. Yo-yo dieting is a recognition of how hard it is to keep weight off. Remember those studies of the “Greatest Loser” contestants, nearly all of whom gained their weight back, sometimes more, because of changes that dieting causes in the body. Lots of SNOBs (mostly people who don’t struggle with weight) sniff at Ozempic-mania, but those drugs do make it possible to keep the weight off. My only objection to them is that they are only available to the lucky and the rich, leaving everyone else YO-YO DIETING. How much of this country’s health problems could be improved if those drugs were more widely available? (And no, I am not ON MEDS, at least not those.)
Thank you for not cluing DREAM HOUSE around the Barbie hype. She who never has to diet at all.
Liked the clue for WHEEL (“revolutionary invention”), but it seems so obvious that I wonder if it’s original. @Lewis will know.
I agree with okanaganer. The Three-Body trilogy is wonderful. Cixin Liu is a great writer. The adaptation comes out in January.
ReplyDeleteBig guy on the virtue vacation this morning - I love the energy. Cute little theme - went by in a flash. Liked the PABST x TITO cross - make it a double. Some short glue - AHA, ARE, ZEE etc but overall smooth.
ReplyDeleteJerry
Pleasant Wednesday solve.
HASTEN down the wind
Not recognizing the constructor’s name, I checked on Xword Info, which confirmed that this was a NYT debut puzzle. This added excitement right at the start – to experience a new voice.
ReplyDeleteSoon enough I saw that Mary is skilled at misdirection, with [They use “like” in a non-Valley Girl way], which had me hunting for groups of people rather than things. Then, when I filled in SHRINK WRAP, I let out a “Hah!” and saw she’s a wordplayer, and I was immediately won over. After I finished, the junk-lite grid and other details made it clear that she has construction chops as well.
Not to mention Mary’s creativity, coming up with this theme at all, coming up with marvelous clues for the three theme answers, and choosing to tie those answers together with a spot-on revealer – more elegant, IMO, than simply coming up with a fourth theme answer.
Oh, I liked the backward WETS crossing DEW, the quartet of A-train first names (ARIANA, VERA, RITA, ANNA), the contradictory entries of AT THIS RATE and A TEMPO, some lovely shorter answers (SIMILES, BALM, IRONY), and the sweet reminder of that gently weeping guitar.
A fun outing, a new voice with great promise – it’s like starting my day with dessert. Welcome to the fold, Mary, congratulations, and thank you!
I've got to echo the solid disagreement with @Rex's FRIEND ZONE issues. It's neither gendered, confined to sex, nor only said by bros. People say it about themselves all the time and for serious relationships. It's just a concise way of describing the "They say they just want to be friends and I'm disappointed about that" situation.
ReplyDeleteThe north shore sounds amazing right now. Gotta love that lake effect.
Strong work on including a MN band in the write-up, if even inadvertently.
Thank you for noting the Yo Yo Dieter negativity. Bad clue, bad answer.
ReplyDelete@wanderlust -- No one has used [Revolutionary invention] before, but [Revolutionary idea] has been used.
ReplyDelete👍
DeletePlayed like a Tuesday, or maybe a challenging Monday. Not really picking up the pace in the way I expect from a Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteBette Midler has defined "the poor" as "those who summer where they winter."
ReplyDeleteWho knew TITO was one of the Jackson 5? The others were Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie, and Michael. Sneezy and Grumpy joined later. Reggie stayed out of it. LOL. (Oops, let's not go there again.)
The right wing is all up in arms over the Barbie movie. They attempted to stage a boycott like the one that was successful against Bud Light. But beer drinkers tend to skew right, while Barbie-goers are all pinkos. (tee hee) So it had as much effect as a burp in a windstorm.
Thx, Mary; very nicely done! 😊
ReplyDeleteEasy-med.
Clever theme; fun word play.
On the right wavelength for this one most of the way, except for the PAINT (which filled itself in via the crosses). Not up on my paints, obviously. (chuckles to self, or to be more succinct, lol)
Checked with ChatGPT on that one:
"Yes, there is a type of paint known as "satin" paint. Satin paint is a finish that falls between matte and semi-gloss. It has a soft, velvety sheen that reflects some light but is not as shiny as a high-gloss finish. Satin paint is popular for interior walls and woodwork because it provides a smooth and durable surface while still offering a subtle shine.
The name "satin" comes from the smooth and silky texture of satin fabric, and the paint finish aims to replicate that look on surfaces. Satin paint is often chosen for areas that require frequent cleaning, as it is more washable and stain-resistant than matte paint.
In the context of the crossword clue you mentioned, "Coat that might be satin?", it is using wordplay to suggest that "PAINT" could be a type of "coat" with a "satin" finish."
Excellent adventure; liked it a lot! :)
___
Elizabeth Gorski's Mon. New Yorker was relatively easy (akin to an avg NYT Sat.). A fine production! :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Friend zone is an apt and harmless description of the very common phenomenon of one person being more interested in a relationship than the other person. I pick up 'acceptance' and a sense of 'oh well' to the term, not any bro culture or incel type evil.
ReplyDeleteI thought the theme was original and well executed. Nice twist, great debut puzzle. Bravo!
Sigh, distasteful and clunky. NYT you gotta do better.
ReplyDeleteSo easy that I set a personal record for solve time, yay me.
ReplyDeleteFRIENDZONE is fun and fresh. My girlfriends and I use it casually and last I looked we weren’t bros or incels. Rex’s rant is def off base here.
Despite the super-easiness I thought the puzzle was fun and SHRINKWRAP and STOCKSPLIT were especially delightful.
Shrink wrap made my day! Thank you Mary and I look forward to more fun puzzles from you.
ReplyDeleteI never leave comments, but since I left Twitter I have nowhere else to scream into the void, so here we are. The universally agreed upon sound for "sad trombone" is WOMP WOMP. WAH WAH is a guitar effect and has its own meaning completely unrelated to WOMP WOMP.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteNice WedsPuz. Liked the Long Downs. Nothing really tough in the puz today. Smooth sailing, even though it took slightly longer than a TuesPuz.
Rex blogging on vacation. He can't seem to stay away!
Six W's today, but for some reason, they weren't as noticeable as the B's were a few puzs ago. Weird.
Not feeling verbose today, so gonna SPLIT. That's a WRAP. The END.
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
OK, but I'm solidly with the "too easy for a Wednesday" contingent. The only minor snags were THREE as clued and VERA, and I remembered her after the V of HOV.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard FRIENDZONE used in a negative sense, probably because I have never heard anyone use FRIENDZONE at all. This is probably because of age and geography. Mostly age.
I read the clue for SATIN and wrote in SATIN. Surprised that so many folks hadn't heard this term, but then again I have painted just about anything that can get a coat of paint, including the gable ends of a garage that required a forty foot ladder. My experience with SATIN has to do with interior woodwork, but that's because we don't like the way it looks on walls.
Thumbs up for the Beatle references. Made me think of that great Beatle clue we just had.
Congrats on the debut, MC, and I expect Multitudinous Crosswords from you in the future. Thanks for some zippy fun.
This grid is divided into three parts, the NW, SE, and the diagonal running SW to NE -- and the only connections between the sections are theme answers. I filled in the NW without figuring out the theme, so then I had to start over with PABST. So it was just a tad harder than 'easy' for me.
ReplyDeleteI want to defend SHALLOW END. To have a nail appointment is not shallow; to have an upset friend is not shallow. But when your friend says "I'm so upset" and you give the reply to the clue, that is definitely a SHALLOW END to your conversation.
I guess it depends on whom you hang out with. When I've heard FRIEND ZONE, it's been sad, not hostile. But then I don't hang out with many incels.
@Loren, you just haven't gone far enough -- one can be very snobby about shopping at Goodwill, getting high-end items cheap, and then bragging to everyone about it.
Drat! I just noticed an error. Not being much for candy, I thought maybe they were red dOTS, and was about to ask how dOV were car pooler's letters; fortunately, I looked at the completed grid before embarrassing myself. There is a candy called Dots, though, right? (Being a SNOB, I only eat Leonidas.)
@Emma (9:19 AM)
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard! 😊
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
Hm. Some themes are better than others. At least there's no girls in lumberjack shirts in today's effort.
ReplyDelete@CDilly52
Wonderful post last night. You are off on a new and grand adventure. I am kinda jealous. A word of warning about California: So much avocado. It'll seem fine at first, then you'll start to wonder why you can't find a guacamole-free plate anywhere, you'll begin to suspect it actually doesn't have any flavor, and eventually you'll make the evening news by speaking on closed circuit video at a city council meeting holding a seed in a jar with roots and toothpicks. "Is this what our schools should be teaching my granddaughter? More avocado-forwardness?" Then you'll start new files on the visits you're paid by the Avocado Anti-Defamation (and Marketing) Society. You can see them coming ... green shirts and hats.
It's noteworthy the mess over at Twitter, er X, is happening in the shadow of California avocados.
Avocado Uniclues:
1 Helpful hint on how to keep avocados fresh.
2 Goat-man greets you at LAX with a tear (and an avocado). NB: Cross dressing as a goat is protected in California.
3 Dipping your toe into the "I'll try adding one jalapeño to make this glue taste like something."
4 Seats at the Church of Space Aliens (used to be Methodist before the AME schism) thanking you for the avocado oiling.
5 Five-K victory luncheon featuring avocados with jalapeños.
6 Pitching together to buy multi-generational-capable home with mature avocado trees out front.
7 The notion avocados will keep you California pretty.
8 The truth delivered by the mirror that avocados don't keep you California pretty.
9 Pure bred rodents fed only guacamole and found only in the finest gold-plated habitats with their own exercise equipment.
10 Avocado-forward spa treatment after discovering he's (or she's or xi's) just not that into you.
11 "Well ya know, avocado fats are good fats."
12 Electrified Jackson (seen leaving a Cali-Mex restaurant with a guacamole stain on his lapel).
1 SHRINK WRAP FYI
2 FAUN WEEPS HIYA
3 WEE SHALLOW END
4 PEWS: "I NEED IT!"
5 FINISH LINE HOTS
6 IN ON DREAM HOUSE (~)
7 SLIM SENSES
8 HASTEN WAHWAH
9 SNOB WHEEL-MICE
10 FRIEND ZONE BALM
11 YOYO DIETER SNIP (~)
12 TITO IN A TESLA
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Heavenly coastline near Odacova. ELOMACAUG.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What’s wrong with girls in lumberjack shirts?
Delete@Anonymous 10:33 AM
DeleteI can't answer that question until you verify you're not in Florida. 😉 See yesterday afternoon's discussion on an emergency CROSS DRESS edit by the NYTXW team to save humanity.
I thought the theme was clever and entertaining, and the theme phrases just tough enough. For the first one, I had STOCKS???? and could only think of "STOCK Still". Fortunately, the delightful SHRINK WRAP came more easily and directed me to the SPLIT above. I never would have gotten SHALLOW END from the clue, which is fine - I enjoyed working it out. Three common expressions all repurposed as FINISH LINES? "Hats off" from me. Elsewhere, a smile for SIMILES and an appreciation of FRIENDZONE purely as a grid entry - interesting to me to read here the various cultural connotations.
ReplyDelete@Mary Crane, congratulations on your debut. I look forward to more.
I got a chuckle out of SHRINKWRAP.
ReplyDelete@Loren Muse Smith - Thanks for the LIKE link! Fascinating. I had one thought, regarding the example about “like grandparents….” that it may also be an acknowledgment that the actual relationships are unknown to the speaker. There are so many familial configurations, but the people were of ages LIKE the traditional family. But I'm like, no linguist!
@CDilly - I read the comments from last night before solving today and appreciated the beautiful writing. It felt like the opening of UP:) Best wishes for your journey going forward - your daughter will be most lucky. Wondering where you have been living while on the beautiful life fate had in mind for you, which may be richer than the one you imagined.
ReplyDelete@Loren - For me, WAH WAH is the guitar effects pedal that gives the wacka wacka sound big in funk and disco. (Emma, never heard of WOMP WOMP, thanks)
Things like friend zone really depend on context, which everyone has forgotten how to do. Article from the Atlantic headline this morning: We are all Calvinists now, (presumably insisting on idealogical purity, haven't read it yet - came here first:)
Here's Prince stealing the show at 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y&ab_channel=Rock%26RollHallofFame
@Wanderlust
- I can't think of a worse vacation than spending it in those places for the wealthy you listed - they spend their time trying to get in overcrowded and overpriced restaurants and worrying that their car is not as showy, and house not as close to the beach. The traffic backup to drive out to the Hamptons is so big, people actually are getting surgery so as not to have to pee as often and lose their place in line.
-inre ozempic: then there's regular exercise and access to reasonable amounts of quality food (which I understand is not as easy as it sounds). Lots of food deserts where you can't find something not mass produced to eat.
@Weezie - nice take on Rex as conversation starter.
@bocamp: ChatGPT is really wordy!
@bocamp from yesterday: A tactic is a tool used to enable a strategy. Take that, GPT!
ReplyDelete@LMS. Loved your icon today. It would be doubly bad to suffer a POST OP PO STOP. I shop for clothes almost exclusively at Costco. I know what I want and can git ‘er done in no time. My mother in law calls it Costcos, as if some guy named Fred Costco founded it. She also claims that her ambition in life is to have a Costcos hot dog. This might seem like a thoroughly achievable goal, particularly given that she often shops there. But she hasn’t achieved it yet.
ReplyDeleteI found myself thinking that it would be amusing for the cellist, Mr. Ma, to reveal his eating habits as The YOYO DIET.
I complain periodically about the ridiculousness of some Rex nit or other, but I really really don’t want him to change. This is all so much fun and has become truly important in my life.
I liked this puzzle a lot. Congrats on the debut, Mary Crane.
I loved this theme so much that I hate finding any fault anywhere. But I do see one weakness in this otherwise flawless puzzle.
ReplyDeleteLet's start with the big successes. SHRINK WRAP is great and I got it off just the SHR -- without having yet seen any other themers or the revealer.
OTOH, I couldn't for the life of me figure out STOCK SPLIT when I had STOCK. That's on me...because it's perfect.
And then when I had SHALLOW, I couldn't figure out what the three-word concluder would be. And that's because what's described in the clue isn't really an END. But if the clue had been changed, I think this could have worked as well as the others. So how about...
Clue: "I have a hangnail. It hurts so much! I'm going to hang myself right now!"
Now there's a real END -- a very SHALLOW (if macabre) one.
Moving on to the revealer -- that couldn't be more perfect.
Very close to a knockout puzzle -- but it could have been made much better with just a tiny bit of tweaking.
@burtonkd (10:22 AM)
ReplyDeleteAgreed. But, still very useful as a basis for getting at the meat of issues (always vetted, tho).
I find it delightfully playful in its use of language, and, yes, it's often redundant, but I can live with that. In fact, redundancy is always a plus for me, as I often need things to be repeated. It's been extremely valuable to me as a supplement to my algebra course, for example.
If I'm missing your point, pls clarify. :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
We’ll I loved this. A wicked little Wednesday that made me work a bit to get to the FINISH LINE. Also learned a few things, such as I had no idea there were that many OREO flavors. Also the Beatles song that WEEPS was a mystery, so much so that I had to look it up. Thought I was the biggest fan ever but I sure don’t remember that one. Very familiar with YO-YO DIETER however as it’s how I tend to approach weight control. Lost 15 pounds last winter for my annual physical and then immediately rewarded myself with all the yummy carbs I had been DREAMing of.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your debut Mary! Judging by how neatly you ACED this one, I’ll be happy to see your name again in the future.
Works, but yep -- SPLIT ain't quite an END synonym. Have heard of SPLIT ENDs, tho.
ReplyDeletestaff weeject pick: ZEE. Sorta a closer, in its own right.
faves: ATTHISRATE. DREAMHOUSE. INEEDIT.
Thanx, Ms. Crane darlin. And congratz on yer fun debut. Hopin this theme don't imply this is goodbye!
Masked & Anonymo1U
**gruntz**
The whole Rex-is-offended-by-FRIEND ZONE discussion drove me back to read Rex today. (FWIW, I'm agnostic on the FRIEND ZONE phrase issue; it's not a term I ever hear in the wild and it just sounds like a "he's just not that into me, alas" kind of lament. Or the other way around. My generation would probably say: "I'm not interested in him romantically, but he's a good friend."
ReplyDeleteAnyway, when I read Rex today, my eyebrows flew upwards. He's on vacation with a close FEMALE friend????!!!!! How does his wife feel about that? Where, exactly IS his wife, now that you mention it???
I don't normally read Rex's column, so forgive me if I've somehow missed a divorce or separation. I hope that's not the reason. But if I were Rex's wife, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't be thrilled.
Enjoyed the puzzle and find myself not offended by any of it. Especially liked SHRiNK WRAP, FRIEND ZONE, and the Oscar Wilde quote about IRONY.
ReplyDelete40A gives us a new entry for the Oreo Oxford Dictionary (O.E.D.)
I once heard it said that TITO Jackson is who Michael and Janet used for parts.
Would write more, but I’m late for my nail appointment.
I enjoyed this a lot. It was over way too soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary - nice debut!
@Nancy, I'm guessing Rex's wife is there also with a big group of friends - sounds wonderful! Also, if I'm reading your clue suggestion correctly, you'd rather hang yourself then excuse yourself lamely from a conversation??
ReplyDelete@bocamp, you read right. GPT does confirm that language and concepts are out there enough in the ether to have it make these results. I see it as a really advanced auto-fill, with frequently fascinating results.
Que clever...Then! Que pasa? Kind of like a whirlwind.
ReplyDeleteI'll start with Que clever: This was different. SHRINK WRAP being my favorite. Then I wandered back to STOCK SPLIT. We have a SPLIT and a WRAP and then finally an END. These are all a FINISH LINE.
So I get to que pasa: 18A Lover's "It's not you, it's me"? STOCK SPLIT? Do you ask your friends if that happens? Have they been FRIEND ZONEd? Do they have to go to the nail salon? Do you need a psychiatrist and hope you can talk about some incels taking over your mind? Nope...It's a times up situation.
A YO YO love/hate affair?
Strangely, though, was my hardest entry was at 9A and 9D...I don't drink beer but I know a Blue Ribbon when I see one. PABST! Then I thought of @Z (because he knows beer) and wondered if "GOF" intended his absence.
POST OP! All I could see was PO STOP. Where is the PO? Why do I need to stop there after having my gall bladder removed.... Ay dios mio.
So I finished and thought about FRIEND ZONE because I didn't know what it meant. I wondered if I had ever been in an aggravating situation where I was really interested in someone and they only wanted to be friends. YES! I remember one! He was the handsomest man alive (so I thought) and he showed me how to stand on top of a horse (true story)....He was a good 20 years older than I was but that didn't matter because he looked exactly like Omar Sharif. I drooled every time I looked at him. I think he would pat my pretty little head and tell me to go get some rest. I flirted like mad with him but, alas, he had no interest in me. Talk about humiliation....
@Wanderlust 7:31. Good post!
@Gary J 9:57. "Avocados de Mexico!" Yes....!
SHRINKWRAP made my day (actually I solved last night); it was the first puzzle-induced LOL in a long time! Having lived in Manhattan for 30+ years where everybody seems to have a shrink or two, complaints about fees and short sessions were rampant—and amusing. Am I being SHALLOW?
ReplyDeleteI guess I’m the only one on the effing planet who’s not familiar with FRIENDZONE. Funny how certain terms/ideas just don’t enter one’s orb.
SATIN paint, OTOH, was a gimme. (We prefer eggshell for the walls and satin for woodwork.)
I liked this puzzle, thought it was mostly fresh, some resistance for me at the start, and then got easy.
Congrats Mary Crane on your debut! Again, loved the SHRINKWRAP. . .
@Nancy
ReplyDelete@Rex's last sentences
"I'm going to fly now, while my wife and friends are still awake. At least I think they are. I don't hear singing any more, but I do hear "Twist & Shout," so hopefully someone is still awake to solve jigsaw puzzles with me. See you tomorrow."
Thanks so much for the article @LMS. Every once in a while I try to figure out what we said before “like”. Maybe “all”. Like the quotative type of like…..as in “she was all ‘I didn’t even invite him’ “. Anyone else think about this?
ReplyDeleteOh. P.s. I liked today’s puzzle 😜
@Nancy(Drew) 11:12 -
ReplyDelete“I'm going to fly now, while my wife and friends are still awake. At least I think they are. I don't hear singing any more…”
Is this a confession? Did Rex murder his wife and friends and use this forum to establish his alibi? Granted, I’ve been watching a lot of Perry Mason lately and this MIGHT just be the harmless truth, but he now has hundreds of avid fans (and critics) reading his self-proclaimed exoneration. And isn’t it CONVENIENT that the bodies could be easily disposed of from a rural area into the Greatest of Lakes?*
Keep on sleuthing, Nancy, you’ve uncovered marital difficulties and are sure to soon find some bodies - and hopefully the smoking gun!
* speaking of SHALLOWEND, is there a better example than Elvis Costello’s “she’s filing her nails while they’re dragging the lake”?
I know this summer has been very hot in some places, but we in MN haven't been subjected to the super hot weather so many places are experiencing. So I'm wondering just how cold that water is that Rex is standing in. My experience with Lake Superior is that it never gets warm enough to stand in for very long, even by midsummer. Brrr.
ReplyDeleteLiu Cixin's trilogy is on my list of books to re-read, as soon as I get them back from a friend to whom I lent them a year ago. She recently confessed to not having looked at the 7 books I sent home with her. Sigh.
@Nancy, I once took a trip to Winnipeg with a male friend to run a half-marathon. We had to stay in a hotel room and everything. My husband didn't bat an eye. I suppose it helps that the friend is friends with my husband. It was a great trip, all in the friend zone.
Congratulations, Mary Crane, on your NYT debut.
@Nancy 11:12
ReplyDeleteYou think it is a badge of honour or something to periodically brag about not reading Rex. Then you have the utter gall to moralize about something you misread?????? It is possible to have a best friend of the opposite sex while being married. And perhaps spend some time alone with them doing innocuous things you both enjoy.
Not sure if it was intentional, but Semisonic (the “Closing Time” band) is from the Minneapolis area.
ReplyDeleteWhen did the Central Park Maven become the moral compass for CrosswordLand?
ReplyDeleteUpset person's **"I am through arguing with you!!"**
ReplyDeleteSCREECHING HALT
Restaurant manager's "Don't clear those tables just yet"
BUS STOP
•••
Never heard the term FRIEND ZONE before, but I think I get it – the bad thing is not so much the term itself; the bad thing is *who* uses it (it's *always* the same type of despicable person), and what that person is *always* implying by using it.
A sad trombone cue requires at least three WAHs (waves to LMS) in my book. The effect is aptly utilized in this tune.
@andrew 1:00 pm
ReplyDeleteBravo!
Also nice catch on Rita, from a huge fan of George - not so much of Paul but do admire his lyrics.
Oops. The perils of skimming. Thank you all for not being mean to me.
ReplyDelete@Nancy (3:07 PM) 😊
ReplyDelete___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity ~ & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
I thought SHRINK WRAP and clue were spot on but the other two themers and clues were way wide of the mark of being a FINISH LINE. At least some comments show that I'm not all alone in the other corner today.
ReplyDeleteAgree with @Wanderlust 7:31 that OFL's equating the clue for 29D YOYO DIETER "One whose weight goes up and down" with "all eating disorder clues" is incorrect. YOYO DIETing happens when a overweight person tries some gimmick DIET to achieve sudden weight loss. It's almost always followed by quickly regaining the weight and then some.
I couldn't disagree more, however, with using Ozempic or any drug to achieve weight loss. Long term use will increasingly accentuate any negative side effects to the user's health that the drugs might have. The longer the drug is used, the more these potential health risks (cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, etc.) increase. Long term use is especially risky for drugs that have only been on the market for a short period of time, like Ozempic, and whose potential health risks are unknown.
Another issue is what happens when a weight loss drug is discontinued? Does the user also experience the YOYO DIET weight regain effect but now with the additional negative health impacts that may have accrued?
The best, research backed approach is to go for gradual weight loss over an extended period of time by eating a healthy DIET, like the Mediterrean Diet and getting regular physical exercise. Oh, and plenty of restful, restorative sleep.
@Simon Says-I think if you had read some other comments, you would discover that you are not the only person on the effing planet unfamiliar with FRIENDZONE.
ReplyDeleteOverall I thought a great debut, and the first two themers caused me to chuckle out loud, which is certainly preferable to groaning out loud. Third one was cute, but as was suggested was a little more convoluted so it lost a little bit in the translation. FRIENDZONE actually was modestly amusing to me as well (heard of it, but not in my daily vocabulary), and while I can see that it could be used in a distasteful way , I'm not sure the term has to be banished for life. If so, we might as well banish "unrequited love" as well.
ReplyDeleteAgain this week or month? ... Wow, this was a lovely solve.
ReplyDeleteDang it… Now seeing weeks after the fact that you were on the North Shore the same week we were! Here’s hoping you enjoyed the rocky shores more than you did this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteMuch like yesterday's--in that one themer nails it. Today we have SHRINKWRAP, ONTASK in every respect. The others...not so much.
ReplyDeleteNice twin long downs in the NW/SE, but a very SPLIT grid with FEW access points. Tough to get around.
Needs work, but there are flashes of potential here. Par.
Wordle bogey, but I bet someone somewhere scored an ace today.
DREAM TRAP
ReplyDeleteMy FRIEND ARIANA has the HOTS,
ATTHISRATE for A FEW,
I'm IN the ZONE to take THREE shots,
INEEDIT, what to DEW?
--- LIONEL TESLA
Not sure the gimmick landed every time. But the rest of the puzzle was pretty good for a debut constructor.
ReplyDeleteEasy enough puz if not completely coherent in the theme, but how many ARE? Noticed THREE answers: INON ONTASK ONMEDS. MART or TRAM in the corners. HIYA ARIANA.
ReplyDeleteWordle birdie.
I thought there would be harsher comments about how easy this puzzle was today. I actually found it easier than most Mondays. Even the misdirects were pretty transparent. I still enjoyed doing the puzzle, just the day placement seemed off. My first thought after completing it actually was, were these the lite version clues that has been talked about on this blog, making it more accessible to newer solvers?
ReplyDelete