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Slushy summer drink portmanteau / TUE 8-22-23 / Vega's constellation / Sign in a gift shop around Mother's Day, maybe / Royalties from Barry's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" / Fidelity alternative for investors / One who might light altar candles in a religious ceremony
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Constructor: Jay Silverman
Relative difficulty: Challenging (for a Tuesday)
Theme answers:
- WONDER BREAD (17A: Royalties from Stevie's "Superstition"?)
- YOUNG BUCKS (23A: Royalties from Neil's "Heart of Gold"?)
- PETTY CASH (34A: Royalties from Tom's "Free Fallin'"?)
- WHITE PAPER (50A: Royalties from Barry's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe"?)
Frosé is a mixed drink made from rosé wine frozen to a slush, with strawberries, vodka, and lemon juice. // The Bar Primi in New York City is credited with inventing the drink, its name being contracted from "frozen rosé". It has since become popular as a summer drink across the US. // The rose wine is generally frozen and then ground in a blender, or made into a slush in a machine. Sugar is then added as a syrup or dissolved in water, strawberry without seeds or pulp, and lemon juice, blended together. (wikipedia)
• • •
The big corners continued to be a problem in the SW, where again I could get none of the long Downs at first pass, even with the first *two* letters of all of them in place. This is because, after deciding it probably wasn't "Life BOAT," I went with what seemed like the only other possible answer in four letters ending with "T": "Life RAFT." Those float, right? Sigh. Nope, it's "Life VEST," yet another small failure to add to today's long line. DEALS IN before DEALS TO (44A: Gives a hand of cards), without hesitation, which led to the odd IN TWO (?!) at 45D: Doubly (TWICE). Still can't remember which crosswordese I-name belongs to ILENE Chaiken (I think I tried ILONA today). Misremembered the constellation as TYRA (19A: Vega's constellation => LYRA). CRITICAL was [Kind of thinking]!?! That is such a hard clue for a Tuesday. As for "AW, SNAP," that was not at all clear from the clue (29D: "Oh, dang!"). The clue phrase sounds like "oh, rats / damn / hell, I messed up," whereas "AW, SNAP" is more like "Whoa!" or "Wow, that was an impressive insult!" Google (Oxford Languages) has it as "an exclamation of agreement or acknowledgment, often used in response to an insult." "Oh, dang!" doesn't quite get there, somehow. Hard for me to get WHITE PAPER, both because I barely know what one is, and because "paper" is way way down the list of synonyms I'd use for "money" (though it definitely is a synonym for "money").
The core concept here is kind of clever, and SOUND CHECKS is a nice revealer. Well, it's revealer-ish, anyway. By the time you get down there, you've got the gist of the theme, probably, but that phrase feels like the reason this puzzle exists at all. Feels like the core wordplay that got this one started. This one was doable, but played more like a Wednesday, or even an easy Thursday for me. The musical acts in question are pretty old (all born between 1944-50, two already dead), which was great for me, but maybe less great for you (if you are, say, under 30). They're all inarguably famous, but it seems totally plausible that someone my daughter's age wouldn't know one or more of these names. This isn't a problem with the puzzle, except insofar as it seems to be drawing from an extremely narrow generational range. Overall, I was mostly entertained, despite the embarrassing struggle. Hope you fared better. See you tomorrow.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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92 comments:
My problem with the theme is the lack of consistency. PETTY CASH is the only one in which the second word has only one meaning (cash=money), while the others (bucks, bread, paper, check) appear in phrases with their non-money meaning.
This is definitely a first. A puzzle I thought was easy was considered challenging by Rex!
Tough. Yep, more like a Wednesday than Tuesday. What didn’t help: Me too for DEAL in before TO, ShutS IN before SEALS....plus FROSE was a major WOE with or without the diacritical mark. I did know ILENE but I’m with @Rex on AW SNAP
Like it, but not as much as yesterday’s. Nice debut.
Same here, almost a record time
Took me 50% longer than my average..."inanity" is no Tuesday word...
Agreed
Same stumbles as OFL in the NE: FROyo and FORmom, plus backLIT at 11D, which made me doubt METRO. With or without a diacritical mark, FROSE was a WOE. Had AW S—- at 29D and thought, "Oh, really?"
Thx, Jay; right on the 'money'! 😊
Med+ (Wednes. time).
Had wAIF for NAIF; didn't know Chaiken, so dnf. :(
Otherwise a fun challenge.
___
Tim Croce's #835 was med (over 3x NYT Sat.). Fairly crossed, so a successful adventure. :)
___
On to Natan Last's Mon. New Yorker. 🤞
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
NW was a non-starter after reading 1860 as 1960, then trying to come up with a three-letter nickname for JFK. Eventually got back there and the A of ACOLYTE, which is a tough word for a Tuesday, BTW, made me revisit the clue, which of course was obvious. Come on man.
Agree with OFL on SUNBURNT, which sounds British. Wanted BACKLIT, but I've been on the METRO lots of times, so I knew that was right. The METRO in Montreal is wonderfully quiet, as it runs on tires and not metal wheels. FROSE was a WTF but I was pretty sure it was right and just assumed it was something I had never heard of, and it was.
Never know how to spell AIOLI. Thank goodness for crosses.
Nice crunchy Tuesday, and congrats on the debut, JS. Just Send in some more to the NYT and I hope they're accepted. Thanks for all the fun.
I felt like this one was a missed opportunity big time - the theme was straightforward, and even though it was PPP-based, was for the most part discernible (if you are a certain vintage, I suppose). The fill was Tuesday appropriate and mostly pretty clean - and then, omg - Will had to go and drop in someone named UZO Aduba and cross it with the French Riviera - yuk! Pretty sad that such a fine effort has to leave a foul aftertaste due to a completely unforced error (It’s almost like WS can’t help himself).
The only other nits for me are that FROSE seems way out of place - maybe it’s real and/or a regional thing, but just looks it was not having any fun being invited to this party. NAÏF was new to me and the PPP cross with ILENE somebody was tough as well. Congratulations to the constructor on a fine effort - wish they had ironed out that one horrible trivial cross though - could have been an A+ Tuesday.
Oh Snap - yes; AW SNAP -no
Deals in - yes; DEALS TO - no
I wonder if BODYOIL would work if I got SUNBURNT because I don’t know what it is. I felt like some sort of confused NAÏF because I didn’t’t know what that meant either.
Oh the INANITY of it all. I approached this with a Tuesday brain and so did not enjoy it. Will have to figure out what a FROSE is and have one for happy hour tonight.
I imagine the origin story of this puzzle went something like this. Jay heard or read one of the theme answers, let’s say PETTY CASH, and his wordplay mind said, “Hah! That’s what Tom Petty earns!” Then came the magic pause, followed by, “Wait, that could be a theme!” Followed by a plunge into synonyms for “money” and musician’s names.
Then I imagine that during his money synonym foray, he came upon CHECK, and while brainstorming phrases that go with that word, he happened upon SOUND CHECK. His jaw dropped at its perfection for this theme, and he decided he had to go with that rather than a fifth theme answer. And, perhaps, he was having trouble coming up with a fifth theme answer anyway.
Whatever the true story is – and, now, after reading Jay’s notes on XwordInfo, not a bad guess! – this theme is creative, original, fun, and, IMO, the product of a mind made for making crosswords. Future puzzles will tell, but I’ll be eagerly watching for them.
I liked seeing the neighbors BLAH and NAH, seeing lovely answers ACOLYTE and ITERATE, seeing the sweet PuzzPair© of BEET and RED, and seeing THE EAST properly placed. I liked the moment ILENE brought the image of the Tower of Pisa. And my brain is grateful for finding the NW corner as a worthy opponent.
So, thank you for this, Jay, and congratulations on your splendid debut!
Nothing compares to the validation of having Rex agree the puzzle was harder than usual
Cute - early week theme. Much smoother solve than the big guy - at or below my normal. Liked YOUNG BUCKS and the revealer was clean. THE EAST, END RUNS, ACOLYTE are all solid as is PASTURE and our oft seen friend ASPEN.
My wife always orders the FROSÉ when we visit the North Fork wineries - with Rex on the overwhelming need for an accent mark. Learned ILENE and didn’t like TINNIER or ITERATE as a verb.
Pleasant Tuesday morning solve.
PETTY and CASH
I agree, hard-ish for a Tuesday. I liked the theme (I admit to being of a certain vintage, so these were all uber-familiar names to me).
FROSE was definitely a WOE but the word I would have thought Rex would really complain about is REARLIT. He didn’t, so I will - the phrase is backLIT. I have never heard anyone say, upon getting ready to take someone’s picture, “Wait, stand over here so you’re not REARLIT”. That sounds completely absurd.
Got it by trial and error. Didn't know FROSE/BOLOS cross, and I had "burntred" instead of SUNBURNT at first (is SUNBURNT really a word, or is it a made-up variant of "sunburned"?).
Nice puzzle, with a comfortable theme that aids in the solving process. Congratulations to the constructor.
I thought an imaginative theme and some on-the-money wordplay. Needed all the crosses plus and ILENE look-up to solve it.
I thought @Rex would be all over PETTYCASH as it is actually a term for money whereas all the others are NOT terms for money A Young Buck is an aggressive male, Wonder bread is bread, white paper is paper, etc except Petty cash which is cash, aka money. So I felt that , as much as I love me some Tom Petty, that felt very wrong.
“ There's a brand of ‘body glide’ (whatever that is) named FOR HER.” Body Glide is a very effective anti-chafe product. I’ve used it while backpacking to prevent blisters and other chafing-related injuries. Although I’m stymied as to why there need to be men’s and women’s versions.
Yikes! This was the most erasing I can recall ever doing on a Tuesday. FOR MOM instead of FOR HER. MEDIC before ER DOC. SECURES ahead of SHUTS IN. SUN BAKED not BURNT. AGE before ERA. BACK LIT, not REAR. DEALS IN, not TO. And a big ONE at 23A - DIAMOND ICE - even though I knew he was likely the wrong Neil. Still, I thought it was a pretty darn good alternative [wrong] answer.
Anyway, after hearing that Rex had some of the same missteps, I feel much better. Agree it was tough for a Tuesday but what a dynamite debut! I enjoyed it a lot and liked the novel theme. Looking forward to more from you Mr. Silverman.
I have no idea how I finished this puzzle. I did not understand a single one of the theme clues. Even now, I would never be able to identify those singers. I actually thought they were references to TV shows. Also, I have never heard of a frosé -- although it sounds delicious!
a white paper does not have anything to do with money: white paper: an authoritative report detailing an issue, position, problem, solution, or even a commercial product and service.
otherwise enjoyed the puzzle. was harder than a usual tuesday, but it moved along. didn't have to look anything up.
As an earlier Anonymous noted, pretty standard easy Tuesday for me and surprised Rex found it otherwise. 15D is new to me but got all the crosses. Got the theme at 17A. Had DEALSIN for 44A making 45D inscrutable. So it goes.
Kept asking myself, “It’s Tuesday, right? Did I forget what day it is?” Way tougher than a typical Tuesday. Actually DNF because I mixed up “waif” and “naif” and had no clue on the name of the L Word creator. (Yeah, in hindsight, ILEWE is very suspect, but it was late last night.) UZO crossing AZURE at the Z was a natick for me. Liked the puzzle overall, just felt like the wrong day.
Interesting. I found this to be very easy. Certainly easier than yesterday. The theme was good, although WHITE PAPER is quite weak. The musicians are all perfectly fair, even if they are old. They're actual celebrities people have heard of, unlike these ILENE and UZO whoevers.
I agree that a lot of answers felt slightly off from normal -- like parents trying to use their kids' slang. (FWIW, I can see "oh dang" used in response to an insult. It's a polite form of "Awwwww sh**********t".)
Interesting note: I learned NAÏF as a kid from Calvin and Hobbes
Hey All !
Man, held up in the NW today. Played like a typical TuesPuz until I got to that NW. Had the BUCKS, couldn't come up with YOUNG for quite a while. Neil Diamond? No. Neil Sedaka? No. Neil Degrasse-Tyson? Har. Odd three Downs in that corner. ACOLYTE-BODYOIL-ENDRUNS. The football thing is End-Arounds, right? But, got it all in the end.
Thought the Theme pretty neat. WONDER BREAD the chuckliest.
FROyo-FROSE. Never heard of frozen wine.
age-ERA, 50-50 chance, always get the wrong one.
ERDOC about the iffiest thing. It's a thing, sure, just odd in a puz.
Escaped Hilary here in Las Vegas. At least the city. We have a mountain here, Mt. Charleston, which is a ski resort in the winter (yes, snow on mountain in Vegas in winter, peak is approx 11,000 feet.) I heard they got nailed. Washed out roads, electricity knocked out. Oof. Lots of people live up there. Good luck to them, and everyone else socked by that Hurricane.
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Did anyone have problems with the NYT website today? Whenever I entered letters, they were essentially written in invisible ink. If I refreshed the page, the letters appeared. It certainly made for a funny solving experience.
I restarted chrome and reset the settings but it didn't fix the problem...
Lots of fun. The wordplay aspect greatly outweighs the proper name aspect, so I'm a happy camper. All the musicians' names are happily familiar, and even when they're not entirely -- well, there's no such thing as GETTY CASH, is there? (By that time, my crosses had put WAITS and JONES out of the realm of possibilities.)
I am getting so good at portmanteaus -- a skill that I'm sure has been honed in the puzzles of the NYT. FROSE (and without the accent, yet!) was completely unknown to me, but I guessed in a flash that it must be a FROZEN ROSE wine mixture. Sounds refreshing.
There was one clunker. ERDOC was DOOK-y and pretty bad. But in a puzzle this good and this enjoyable, who cares?
The clue on END RUN was bad. That's just a play! The only thing evasive about an end run is the desire to not get tackled but by that logic, any football play works for that. Evasive conjures up a spin move or a lateral to me.
Not much crunch, but some sparkle, Three of the five themers were very good. Enjoyed it.
On Sunday, @weezie write that he/she doesn't like very fast times being posted on the blog. I'd like to hear what others of us like or dislike on the blog. My favorite comments are those where something in the puzzle prompts an expert in that field to give some inside background. Plus, occasionally something will make me laugh.
I thought this was lots of fun. It took a little work, maybe, but once you got the theme it was smooth sailing. It didn't come up to Wednesday-level difficulty for me. And my response to only one of the theme answers being a money term is, So what? All of those answers satisfy the money clues perfectly, and relate to the musicians' names, and that's clever enough! Very nice debut.
Oh oh for pick me, pick me?
@Tim: I raised an eyebrow at END RUNS as well and agree with you. Since the general term is often used to describe evasive strategies in life, the football reference could have been dropped from the clue entirely.
WAIF > NAIF, ug, you're still a skinny nothin' with a hunger to destroy IRENE'S good name. Took me forever to find this one mistake.
Such a wonderful puzzle. Perfect theme and plenty of other good stuff too. I had a great time completing this.
It's OHO, not OHOH, well, with that clue it probably is OHOH, but I wish it'd been OHO.
FROSE is the less expensive coffee shop version of FROSÉ.
Tee-Hee: GYRATED in BODY OIL.
Uniclues:
1 Every other slice.
2 The gay area in Denpasar.
3 "Don't believe it when he says he needs to check your wicks."
4 Backward Santa on the beach.
5 Ones saying, "You'd think with a rack like that he could find us a better place than this grocery store parking lot."
6 Early Beatles lyric eventually replaced by Obladi Oblada.
7 Primary reason westerners stay put.
1 ODD WONDER BREAD
2 YOUNG BUCKS' BALI
3 ACOLYTE ADVISES
4 SUN BURNT OHOH
5 CRITICAL ELKS (~)
6 ERR BLAH NAH
7 THE EAST? BIPOLAR!
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Solution for nude jacuzzi-ist with ugly feet. TUB TUBE SOCKS.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thought this was great and fresh. Felt like lots of slang that’s pretty current (paper, young bucks, aw snap, frose). Record time!
@mathgent (9:21) At the risk of opening a can of worms … I’m glad you asked. I don’t mind people talking about their solve times; it’s just that I don’t care. Like @Beezer mentioned yesterday, I do sometimes tire of the “downs only” discussions on Mondays but again, primarily because I don’t share the enthusiasm for it. My only real objection would be vulgar language or inappropriate comments but thankfully this crowd is pretty genteel and that’s rare.
What I love are the different personalities that shine through. At times I have read posts and knew who wrote it without looking at the name. Also the incredible level of knowledge and the diversity - the wide variety of voices from different walks of life all over the continent and occasionally beyond. I do the crossword to keep my mind from rusting but reading this blog is where I feel it really gets sharpened.
I guess some people wish that FROSE would die a CRITICAL death?
The MPAA has a new rating: Generally Yucky. Hence a one word review of a bad film might be GYRATED.
I used to host a weekly gathering to drink Greek liquor and watch Orange is the New Black. It was called Ouzo with UZO.
You don’t really know what it means to break one of the Commandments until you’ve seen a SEALSIN.
Very easy puzzle today. I don’t remember even hesitating. But I liked it. Thanks and congrats, Jay Silverman.
Enjoyed this one and finished in about average time for a Tuesday. Liked BIPOLAR and PETTY CASH. Didn't like FROSE or REARLIT.
its backlit not rearlit. and frose really tripped me up.
i had a weird moment where i had whitep___r and actually thought this constructor would go there
@mathgent (9:21) - Since you asked ...
I particularly like all the new "stuff" that I learn from this blog. For instance, a couple of days ago someone mentioned it was Raksha Bandhan, the celebration of the love between siblings. This prompted me to send a note to my sibs, giving us all a reminder of our good fortune.
I also love reading (and posting) bits of humor, personal stories, and feeling like I have some friends I've never met.
And because "One man's meat ... " I'll not mention my least favorites. I simply skip 'em if they're not of interest.
Extremely easy. I'm very familiar with all the clued musicians, but I didn't need that knowledge. Beginning in the NW and heading south, I was already painting ELMO RED when I noticed the theme.
@mathgent, I find the plethora of comments about wrong answers and erasures etc. a bore, BUT that’s not nearly as tiresome as the braggadocio of those who claim to finish the Sunday puzzle in 10 minutes or less week after week. It’s cringe-inducing. Why not keep it to yourself? Nobody believes it anyway.
I also find the predictable sneering from certain regulars here when they don’t know stuff, like UZO, is really unpleasant. I try to skip over it.
I enjoyed today’s puzzle, refreshing and crunchy for a Tuesday, and congratulate JS on his promising debut!
To egsforbreakfast:
What did Moses do that no other person ever did?
He broke all Ten Commandments at once.
Groan.
I feel like the NYT has been on a particularly poor run lately for themes, but this one is a gem.
Just a beautiful idea, cleanly executed.
FROSE was a WoE. I have been known to confuse BOLaS with BOLOS, but fortunately that did not happen today or I might have would up with FRaSE there.
@mathgent - Probably my favorite posts are ones where someone links a puzzle entry to something they have read or watched or heard, which often prompts me to read or watch or listen to something new.
I also enjoy it when people riff off of the themers to come up with their own examples.
Least favorite are spoilers - for the puzzle or for anything else. I was fortunate to get up at 5am to watch the FWWC final the other day, but if I had not, that spoiler would have ruined my day.
I loved this puzzle. I don't analyze them, I just do them & it was a perfect Tuesday.
Great debut, Jay & hope to see you again.
Great comment (as usual) @ Lewis!
A funnier clue for PETTY CASH would have been "Royalties from Sam Smith's 'Stay With Me'?"
For 15-across at one point I had F__HER in place and thought, huh? The answer is FATHER?
Play "Misty" for me
Very cool TuesPuz. thUmbswayUp. Had a great do-re-mi vibe to it.
{Royalties from Elton's "Your Song"?} = JOHNDOUGH.
Betcha @RP is relieved that M&A ain't makin these non-runt puzs.
staff weeject pick: UZO. Hardest part of the puz at our house was that there UZO/AZUR crossin. Nice weeject stacks in NW & SE, btw.
Runner-up hardest crossin: FROSE/BOLOS. Can never remember whether its BOLO or BOLA.
Rest of the solvequest went pretty darn good and smoooth. Theme made things easier, once I nailed my first themer [at YOUNGBUCKS]. Fun stuff.
Ok. Ok. How'bout {Royalties from any hit tune heard on the radio?} = PLAYDOUGH, then? Better? Yeah, didn't think so...
Ok. Ok. How'bout {Partial royalty from "I Got You Babe"?} = CHERSHARE? har. Surely U gotta luv that one.
Thanx for the royal tease, Mr. Silverman dude. And congratz on a really great debut.
Ok. Ok. How'bout {Royalties from ELO's "Can't Get It Out of My Head"?} = ELECTRICBILLS?
Masked & Anonymo5Us
Ok. Ok. {Royalties from John's "Rocky Mountain High"?} = STATECAPITAL? Too cryptic? Yeah, thought so.
Ok. Ok... How'bout I just give it a rest already?
Inspired by a recent Webb space telescope scoop:
**gruntz**
@mathgent-
Likes: Learning things, sharing a love or words and language, reading folks who make me laugh, feeling clever when I remember something I thought I'd forgotten, commiserating with others over some horrible clue or usage.
Dislikes: Any crosses featuring two proper nouns (usually names) that I've never heard of. I'm a little tired of the downs-only analysis, just because it's usually the entire Monday review and only appeals to a limited number of solvers, but it's a very small price to pay for all the enjoyment I get out of reading this blog every day. Thanks to all who contribute for all the fun.
@mathgent
WHAT I LOVE:
-In reality, every puzzle is "easy" for Rex, so the pathology behind his nonsensical daily rating is utterly fascinating and hilarious.
-@SouthsideJohnny showing up daily to hate the puzzle (why does he keep doing it?) and blame WS as if he actually edits the puzzle.
-When @Z went away, so did the trolls.
-My solving experience is nearly always similar to @Weezie and @Whatsername and @Barbara even though they don't seem similar to each other.
-Everything about @GILL I. Everything.
-Everything about @CDilly. Everything.
-@Lewis being over the moon excited about 365 of 365 puzzles per year.
-@andrew literally being unable to share his interesting takes without fearing censorship over quoting bumper stickers.
-The fact my wife, who has never read this blog, routinely wants to know what @Nancy thought.
-Whenever a math, engineering, or science entry pops up, it will be unassailably wrong according to our math, science, and engineering peeps here.
-When a constructor pops by to thank Rex for the review. WOW.
-Easy, challenging, fast, slow, day of the week, whatever, it's all wheelhouse. We're here to share, grumble, and admit our failures and successes. Lots of wisdom here, an occasional controversy, and a few fuzzy heads, it's all good.
-The idea of getting @Roo, @egs, and @M&A in person in a room at the same time. Magical.
-The fact that even among those who post comments, few of them read the comments. For some reason I love that.
-There are so many others, but these are top of the head thoughts, right now.
WHAT I HATE:
-The Uniclue guy. ☠️
I've enjoyed crosswords since I was introduced to them by my grandparents in the 1960s. I found this blog some years ago when looking for part of a theme explanation. Thanks, Rex! I tried the downs only method but the themes generally go across and I missed those clues. I'm a theme lover so that solving style doesn’t appeal to me. The speed solve prevents me savoring the wit in cluing, so I don’t usually rush through a puzzle. Those who can solve a Friday or Saturday puzzle in 10 minutes? Wow. How fast can you crochet? Likely you’re video game whizzes too.
Once, when a puzzle just tickled me to death and I couldn’t stop chuckling - I just had to share my glee. Now, my spouse is not a puzzle guy. He didn’t get it. So I read the blog and an assortment of posts to him. Since lockdown, it's become a daily routine of showing him the highlights of each completed puzzle, and then excerpts of Rex and an assortment of the posts and links here. He's still not a solver, but can share a bit of something that I get so much pleasure from. I love the word play posts, the informative posts, and the ones that help us all get to know each other. Also those that reveal a bit of whimsical personalities. (i.e. What are we celebrating today? How many Fs?) My husband doesn’t care about definitional nuance, so he likes the “close enough for crosswords” concept and shakes his head over “nit-picking.” (But sometimes it’s so over the top I get a laugh from that too.) His favorite poster is always @Lewis.
I have to express my appreciation for you mentioning Neil Sedaka. At this moment I am working on a puzzle from the archive (5/23/07) and one of the very first clues is "Neil who wrote 'Stupid Cupid'". I haven't thought about Sedaka for so long, it probably wouldn't have come to me. Lucky for me, I read your comment about twenty minutes before.
Baader–Meinhof strikes again!
Fairly easy for me, but that's due to lack of biblical trivia. And I caught on to the theme fast. However, NAIF x ILENE did me in.
O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!
Keats: Ode to a Nightingale
Royalties from Henry's "Shannon"?
GROSS PAY
And a slight twist...
Royalties from Deep Purple's first hit?
HUSH MONEY
@JJK totally agree. Doubt anyone ever said rearlit. Thought Rex would object to it. Went thru the early posts looking for a comment on it.
@ anonymous 4:42 am. I think inanity is a perfectly good Tuesday word. Certainly more o than iterate.
Oh, no! It was I who thoughtlessly mentioned ESPANA's victory on Sunday, not thinking it could serve as a spoiler for some. A thousand apologies. Thanks for mentioning it @kitshef so I can be more careful.
Very easy puzzle made more difficult due to some really bad clueing. I agree with Rex: the theme seemed dominant and everything else had to be shoe-horned in, no matter how inane. Much like the claims of a "stolen election" in 2020.
Great response to my request for blog likes and dislikes. They were all winners. Thank you.
Frose huh?
Royalties from Johnny's "Walk the Line": CASH MONEY
But that would leave Tom PETTY out of the puzzle.
[Spelling Bee: Mon -1, missed this 7er.
Nice to see that this 6er is newly accepted; about time!]
Here it is Tuesday, and we're still talking about @Rex's downs-only solving on Monday. Time to refer everybody to the name of the blog -- Rex is writing about his solving experience, which may or may not be of interest to others.
I once bought a box of liquor chocolates as a souvenir of Germany. When I got back home I put them in the freezer so they'd last longer - only to learn to my sorrow that freezing took the liquor out of the chocolates. (My attraction for them was due to a passage in a novel, I think by Graham Greene, where two people played checkers with said chocolates and had to eat the ones they captured). Anyway, this makes me wonder what freezing does to the rose part of FROSE. Maybe if you drink it soon enough it's still alcoholic?
I'm trying to think of a sentence referring to mooning and REARLIT, but I can't come up with a plausible one.
Slight problem with the clue for 42-D, "go over again." That would be reITERATE. To iterate is to go through something stepwise, not to do it again.
So I watch very little TV, and don't recall ever seeing UZO Aduba in person; but she seems to be pretty famous, and has certainly been in lots of puzzles. As for Ms. Chaiken, I couldn't remember her first name either, but ILEwE seemed unlikely.
@mathgent dude: I kinda like almost everything about the Comments Gallery … interestin, becuz of its wide variety of reactions to each puz, and to each other's [and of course @RP's] comments.
Only thing I don't like is when @muse darlin don't show up. But I know she's kinda busy, so I try to grin and bear it. Sure do miss seein her daily avatar selections, tho -- they're each almost like a great New Yorker cartoon.
And thanx, for askin.
M&A
p.s.
How'bout {Royalties for Gary's "Quarter to Three"?} = USBONDSINCOME ?
Gotta go, before I start tryin to build on possible puzthemers endin with less palatable words like "pickins" or somesuch.
@Gary J. I don’t care that much about the Uniclues (sorry), but I very much appreciate your opening comments. Wonderful mix of put downs and self deprecation in general.
Did he fall on his face? No, he REARLIT.
Many a time it's difficult for me, and easy for Rex or the commentator. Then what joy there is when it's the other way round!
Great difficulty for me as a can’t quite always do Thursdays solver. Just hard enough to scratch my head but not enough to stop me entirely. Got to the end and couldn’t solve it out, saw that I had waif for naïf. Not a good cross for me as Ilene could’ve been anything to me. Although Ilewe looks dumb now that I see it.
What Gary J said.
@Gary
Well said!
Couldn't help noticing all the plurals of convenience (POC) that peppered the grid, especially the two for one variety, where a Down and an Across both get a letter count, grid fill boost by sharing a final S. All those Ss could be changed to black squares and nothing of value or interest would be lost.
This might be a record for the most number of two for one POCs. There are five of them, including a rare appearance of a stealth two-fer. The four overt ones are where ENDRUN/EL, MOB/BOLO, ORDAIN/WATT and AD/SEEP all get help from a final S. The seldom seen covert two-fer is where both GIVEN and DEAL TO get boosted by an internal S.
Even YOUNG BUCK and SOUND CHECK needed some letter count inflation to fill their slots. The Committee was unanimous in giving this grid a POC Marked rating.
This one ran quick for me, but that's because I got the theme right off the "Royalties from Steve's 'Superstition'" clue, as that clue-answer pair appeared as "Stevie's royalties" just about a week ago in Aug 15, 2023's Wall Street Journal puzzle. (All their theme clues dealt with singers, but not necessarily paired with the royalties idea. For example, MERCURY PROGRAM (for "Freddy's setlist?") and HOLIDAY BONUSES (for something about Billy Holiday) showed up as two of the other themes, and I've forgotten the fourth one.) Serendipitous how similar ideas and/or answers intersect sometimes.
@JJK - I agree with you on REARLIT. I'm a photographer and I've only ever used and heard the term "backlit." It doesn't sound 100% wrong, and it's completely understandable, but it's just not something I've ever heard.
@Gar Jugert - You made us laugh out loud!
@Gary Jugert
Aw, thanks! Grouping me in with @egs and @M&A! Wow, I'm honored.
Truth is, I'm not really this interesting in real life! 😁
RooMonster Lord Of The Couch Guy
@jberg 1:37p - lol I’m not sure the alcohol disappeared when frozen - maybe just lost it’s taste. I loved your tie in to Greene’s Our Man in Havana though - wonderful novel and gave us Ernie Kovacs playing checkers with Alec Guinness in the movie adaptation. Worth the watch.
REAR LIT is a writing genre wherein descriptions of the characters' butts drives the story line.
I forgot. Hate POCS discussion.
@BobL, duly noted. My avatar is always the same so if you see it, just skip right on by.
@kitshef (10:38) Good point about being inspired to read or watch something new.
@Gary (11:06) Great post! LOL. I've also noticed that I'm often in sync with your reactions as well as @Weezie's, @Barbara's and especially @Nancy's - hers just about 100% of the time. @Beezer is another kindred spirit but I feel flattered to be on the same wave length with most any of the great minds who populate this place.
By the time I was about halfway through I was convinced this was actually meant to be a Thursday puzzle that was accidentally published on a Tuesday. Naïf and acolyte aren’t words I would expect to see so early in the week.
Côte d’Azur has been used in the US as another name for the Riviera for a long time. It is not at all obscure.
I think someone above explained sunburnt as mostly British. I have seen it used in reference to a resort area, the sunburnt splendor of the Côte d’Azur.
As pointed it out, white paper is a term used in government circles (maybe used to be used?)
Same here! Then again, I’m a huge fan of Neil, Tom and Stevie
Didn’t know Côte d’azur so ‘Urgent care pro’ was EMDOC, then EDDOC before finally figuring it out. The themed clues came earlier than a lot of the tough fill. Agreed, challenging Tuesday!
You are correct. Maybe the constructor had a different play in mind. Isn’t there a play called “end around “? That would fit the clue, am I right?
Babe Didrikson got no mention or bows today…AMAZING CHAMPION ATHLETE. She was globally famous in 1930s-1950s GOLF, TRACK AND FIELD, BASEBALL…please google her…well worth your time ….I thought for sure someone in this intelligent group would recognize her long successful history
She sometimes hit as many as 1,500 balls a day. In 1938, Babe married professional wrestler George Zaharias. Babe was named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year six times. The AP also called her the greatest female athlete of the 20th century.
Yes! Somebody please design a Neil Young-themed puzzle, while he’s still here to appreciate it!
Had a "Whoa!" moment at the start: I didn't know anything right away in the NW. On a Tuesday! I began my "Journey" way down at KIM and worked out from there. Once I got going things were easier, and it wound up being suitable for the day.
The phrase is OH SNAP, not AW, but there was OH in the clue, and anyway there was already one too many OHs in the grid (OHOH).
Never heard of FROSE, but it was sort of inferable. Liked: PETTYCASH, WONDERBREAD. Nice little theme. Birdie.
Wordle par.
Tough one for a Tuesday that is. The theme started off great but the last two were a bit on the weak side. WHITEnotes would have been better than WHITEPAPER. Something to do with bills for the last themer maybe. Nice debut.
WATTS TO WONDER
It’s CRITICAL FOR ILENE
TO ADVISE those ODD YOUNGBUCKS
and FORHER TO CHECK THE scene
TO SEE which ONE she ORDAINS.
--- ELMO VENN
I too love it when Rex finds a puzzle hard, and I find it easy. Acolyte took a few nanoseconds, but having been an altar boy from grade 4 through 12 certainly helped there. Best misdirect clue was 12D. It made you think government and not religion. 2 clues and answers did not mesh at all for me. 29D's answer was the result of a head-on collision between aw rats and oh snap. The correct answer for 46D should be ooh ooh. I can still hear the voice of Horshack in my head. For that answer, maybe a constructor could drop the 2 h's and have 4 o's in a row. I can see heads all over the crossworld exploding right now.
I got the "trick" pretty quickly, and then filled this in like a cash register. My money's on this one for a Tuesday.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
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