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Some complainers, in modern lingo / FRI 9-15-23 / Old settings for tragedies / Setting in a Spike Lee film / Film character who debuted in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" (2005) / One-named designer born Romain de Tirtoff / Video game series with Spa Day and Jungle Adventure expansion packs / Instruments made from gourds
Friday, September 15, 2023
Constructor: David A. Rubin and Lee Demertzis
Relative difficulty: Medium-Challenging
Word of the Day: ANDRA Day (22D: ___ Day, winner of a best actress Golden Globe for "The United States vs. Billie Holiday") —
Cassandra Monique Batie (born December 30, 1984), known professionally as Andra Day, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Children's and Family Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award, along with nomination for an Academy Award.In 2015, she released her debut album, Cheers to the Fall. At the 2016 Grammy Awards, the album was nominated for Best R&B Album and the single, "Rise Up", was nominated for Best R&B Performance. To promote "Rise Up", she performed the song on The View, earning a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for the performance. Day also appeared alongside Stevie Wonder, who is partially credited for her discovery, in an ad for Apple TV in late 2015. In 2020, Day became one of the most-requested artists among Jazz Joy and Roy Global Radio listeners.
In 2021, Day made her acting debut with her portrayal of Billie Holiday in Lee Daniels' biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Day received the Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's accompanying soundtrack. (wikipedia)
• • •
But it gets (somehow) worse. Back when I only had OTOE and ODEA (plural of ODEUM, which is a Latin variant of ODEON, an Ancient Greek theater), I looked at 13A: Where many video calls are taken, and, with the "T" and "D" in place, I wrote in STUDIES. "I'm take this Zoom call in the study." Sure, why not? The plural was a little odd, but the clue had "calls" (plural) in it, so I felt pretty safe. Sigh. So, as you perhaps know, it's one thing to be wrong (we're all wrong in one way or another every day, it's part of the game), but it is quite another thing to be wrong and then to have the correct answer, the one you've been struggling to get for so long, turn out to be something so abominable, so execrable, so phenomenally stupid and unlovable as ATADESK. I ... where to ... it's just ... ATADESK? That is a prepositional phrase that has absolutely no business standing on its own in a crossword. I'm guessing it sneaked, in some SNEAKY fashion, into some puzzle somewhere, and from there made its way into a database, which allowed it to pollute all future crossword word lists with its ATADESKness. I make fun of "EAT A SANDWICH"-type answers all the time, but I would sooner see EAT A SANDWICH, DRINK A PEPSI, LICK A POPSICLE and PET A CHIHUAHUA, All In The Same Grid, than see ATADESK even once ever again ever. I may be exaggerating here, but sometimes hyperbole is called for, and this is one of those times. So yeah, working up from SENATORIAL SEATS through LOWERCASE LETTER to the "pinnacle" of ATADESK pretty much destroyed all likelihood that I was going to enjoy this puzzle. I felt bad for the rest of the puzzle. It didn't really have a chance. It's too bad, because the long fill down below is actually quite original and fun. Loved it. But it can't make up for the top. In sum, I would gladly take the bottom third of this puzzle—on a Saturday. The rest of it, on Friday, or any day, you can definitely have back.
Bottom, like the top, played way harder than I thought it would, but the payoff was so much better. Light years better. I did not mind having to claw my way to those long Acrosses because they were lovely. I couldn't remember all the Magic 8 Ball responses, , and I only had letters in the middle, so I couldn't see "SIGNS POINT TO YES" for what felt like a very long time. "ICE COLD BEER HERE!" had a cutesy clue that I knew was gonna be about beer, I just didn't know how (52A: Draft announcement?). So surprised, and happy, to have a very specific ballpark voice come booming into my ear when I finally got it. I haven't been to a game since I saw Verlander do a rehab start here in spring. I miss it. And now the season is practically over. But back to the puzzle. Same trouble with short Downs down below as I had above. RESIDES instead of RESTETH (38D: "... for anger ___ in the bosom of fools": Ecclesiastes). No idea about OHM'S (48D: ___ law) (wanted TORT) or "YEAH" (49D: "Sure thing") (wanted "I BET") or SEAS (51D: Large amounts) (wanted ATON, ALOT, LOTS, etc.). Again, only the crosswordese was helping me out at all down there (looking at you, ERTE and TROU). Switched corners and got lucky. SIMS ICAN NCAA helped me see SNEAKY (55A: Furtive), and that's all the traction I needed to start to make things happen on the bottom. The two long Acrosses went in, making me (finally, briefly, belatedly) happy, and that was that.
Other things:
- 7D: "Over my dead body!" ("HELLS NO!") — ok so yes people say this, it's original, etc. But some part of me wishes the nonstandardness could've been tipped in the clue. Also, this exclamation feels both dated and cutesy now and I'm wondering if people do in fact say it (anymore). If you wanted "HELL NO!" today and wondered why there were too many squares, I'm sure you're not alone.
- 15D: D.M.V. issuance (REAL ID) — First, "issuance" is about the worst word I've seen today. It looks like a worm or maggot and I just want to step on it. Second, if the thing coming out of the DMV is not "LICENSE," then I don't know what it is. REAL ID is so new (isn't it?) that I don't have one. I do know what it is, and the clue is fine / fair—just saying that it was Hard for me.
- 1A: "Sick!" ("SO DOPE!") — "Sick!" = "Dope!" so I always get mad when the "SO" is shoehorned in there with no equivalent in the clue.
- 46D: Darn it! (SOCK) — Missed that this was one of those "it!" clues (where the answer is the "it," not an equivalent for the whole clue), so I had, I dunno, DRAT or something written in here at first.
- 14D: Some complainers, in modern lingo (KARENS) — I love this, but not everyone will. Some people think this is a slur. Some people think it's misogynist (feminizing the act of complaining, in the grand tradition of "harpy," "shrew"). But I know women who use it. Opinions will vary. I've forgotten the context that gave rise to the term? I associate it with that white woman in sunglasses who called the police on that Black family's barbecue ... do you remember her? But apparently she was called "BBQ Becky," so ... here, the BBC has a whole thing on the history of KARENS if you want to read it. Warning—you will be reminded of lots of people you don't really want to be reminded of.
Have a nice rest of your day. See you tomorrow.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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115 comments:
I have a PhD in Electrical Engineering (where "Ohm's Law" comes from) and I got it from crosses. Terrible terrible clue.
I don’t understand the “Darn it!” clue. Is “to darn” a verb? Never encountered that before.
Rex, I share most of your same opinions and gripes about today's puzzle. And KARENS definitely made me smile, just as I think it is a funny term, personally. But then again, I'm a dude...
In other words, the point that "I know women who use" the term somehow makes it less misogynistic is like saying the N-word or the B-word are not so bad because black people and women use them too.
There’s some oddball fill here and there but I liked the spanning stacks and the overall wide-openness. SNAKE IN THE GRASS is cool and ICE COLD BEER brings me back to a hawker at Yankee Stadium in the 70s that called himself Cousin Brewski.
SNEAKY Pete
Most of the trivia that Rex got held up on went right in for me - ESCOBAR, OHMS. I don’t like the term KAREN but whatever. HELLS NO is neat and reminds me of south shore Long Island.
Pleasant Friday morning solve.
KEANE
Real ID is a US Government standard that has more stringent qualifications for issuance. By 2025 access to commercial airlines will require this enhanced form of identification. Some states (like mine) make it almost impossible to make a DMV appointment to get a Real ID.
Yes. Back in times of yore, people used to darn (mend) their socks. :)
Top 1/3 difficult and overall poor quality.
Middle 1/3 more or less solved itself. Ok fill
Bottom 1/3 best fill (or least best long acrosses), took some effort in the east, but enjoyed overall.
“Over my dead body!” Really deserves an “AW” in front of HELLSNO. Like in a gtfo, or nfw, kind of way.
Dropped OHMS right in, but hate _____ (word) clues generally, and this one’s bad.
Not sure of it’s origins, but I always think of the character KAREN in Goodfellas when I hear this term. I don’t like to use a given name as a put-down so I don’t use it but I usually chuckle (guiltily) when others invoke it.
I’m also an EE who needed the crosses for ohm’s law
The middle was easy, the bottom was medium and the top was hard. The bottom was delightful, the middle was nice, and the top was god-awful, for reasons Rex lays out perfectly and hilariously. Definitely not smooth as SILK, more like smooth as burlap.
Drug wAR instead of ESCOBAR held me up at the top for a long time, especially since the last two letters were definitely right. I was thinking the subject of Narcos was what it’s about not whom it’s about. That and HELLa NO instead of HELLS NO left me with wELLa for the boxing ringer, so I knew something was wrong but took me a while to see exactly what.
SIGNS POINT TO YES and COLD BEER HERE both made me smile. If I’d ended on those instead of LOWER CASE LETTER and SENATORIAL SEATS, I’d have liked this much better.
It’s not BEEPS. That toon says MEEPS.
This puzzle struck me as one of the worst “hard” puzzle in a stretch, mainly for the reasons Rex outlined. But also for fake-plural ACMES, the ersatz-cool SO DOPE, and dumb clueing like “Richard of Hollywood.” Its badness — or, perhaps, just annoying news — was spread all over the grid.
Can someone explain ODEA (4D)? “DEA” I get, but “ODEA”?
Given the number of Karens in my life, I hate the fact that the name has been applied to unpleasant, racist, insane women. The three Karens closest to me are all beautiful, loving people.
Puzzle played very easy for me, so surprised at Rex’s rating. Not surprised he hated AT A DESK. NW corner in general is pretty poor, with AT A DESK, OTOE, ODEA.
Yep, terrible clue for LOWERCASE LETTER, which was nonetheless easy.
Bottom four grid-spanners are all gold, though.
I'm not an electrical engineer, but OHMS law went right in. I even managed to dredge up V=IR from the memory banks, although I don't remember what the 'I' is.
I believe KAREN was the overly entitled white woman who called the police on a black man in Central Park for having his dog in a restricted area or off a leash? Then she made false accusations not realizing it was all recorded. She lost her job and was charged with making a false complaint or something. Now I assume I’m always being recorded as do many.
Enjoyed the KING CRAB and ICE COLD BEER grid spanners - sounds like a good candidate for lunch tomorrow. Was mildly surprised that Rex let the narcoterrorist / drug kingpin ESCOBAR slide yet someone who disagrees with him either politically or culturally (say, Bret Stephens, for example) should be banished forever. Interesting.
Was concerned that we hadn’t checked the Latin word or phrase box - fortunately they gave us STOMATA - which is close enough. Don’t know what it means, don’t know (or care) what language it is . . . Just a perfect fit for an NYT grid.
Awesome PPP cross with ANDRA and MADEA - I don’t know them but can tell from context (Golden Globes and Diary of a Mad Black Woman) that they are most certainly Friday-appropriate. Nice touch to have them cross each other so that the unwashed masses among us can have our usual 1 out of 26 chances at avoiding a DNF.
MADEA x ANDRA = NATICK
The top tier froze me out so badly on first pass that this wound up in Saturday territory. CRIER, ANGUS and BEEPS gave me my start and I had to go south from there.
Things went mostly smoothly after that with just a few glitches. I had RESIDES before RESTETH because sometimes my instincts SUCKETH. There was also HECK before SOCK. That's one of my least favorite clue types. It's the epitome of the Times dad humor and never fails to grate on my nerves.. The final write over was DRUGWAR/ESCOBAR. BELLS straightened that one out
HELLSNO needs to lose that S as badly as DOORONE needs its NUMBER.
yd -0, Mo-We -0, Su pg -2
Really enjoyed it. Found it challenging. Although, was Naticked thrice.
STOMATA + ERTE
ANDRA + MADEA
SNOOD + SOROS
Must hit the books I've never heard of any them.
@ Anonymous 05:58: Darning socks is mending them. Like Father McKenzie darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there, in the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby.
I dont want to be a KAREN but HELL NO!. Uesed to seeing DRAught when it comes to Beer. Otherwise a fun for a Friday.
eBay as a clue is much worse than you realize...
Because it's a great example of CAMELCASE.
CamelCase is when you have a capital letter in the middle of a word, sans space. It's very common for us computer programmer type people, we name variables like varUserName.
CAMELCASELETTER fit perfectly and I spent forever trying to cross it up. NW took half my game time. I eventually ditched the camel and went for...
UPPERCASELETTER.
FML.
So this was a puzzle that *felt* difficult but according to my time, was medium. I think it’s because as soon as I saw this grid I resolved to only do a cursory pass on the acrosses and focus on the shorter downs.
I similarly had a *rough* time with the Northwest and the crosswordese, and exact same experience with SALS. I did mostly like the bottom two-thirds of the puzzle, though.
I’m such a nerd that STOMATA put a literal smile on my face to write in; they’re such a cool mechanism. Plant respiration is one of the processes that really attracts me to botany.
So, KAREN is one of those terms that emerged out of Black culture with a very specific meaning and setting that some white folks have co-opted and broadened in a way that doesn’t reflect the political analysis that was part of why the word emerged in the first place. A Karen in its original meaning is a white woman, often middle aged or older, usually class privileged, who is so entitled and locked in to her racist assumptions and entitlement that she will attempt to involve authorities when she feels uncomfortable with some normal thing that Black (or BIPOC folks) are doing. In addition to the woman Rex linked to, another consummate Karen is the woman who called the police on Christian Cooper, a Black birdwatcher in Central Park, and claimed she had been threatened simply because he dared to ask her to leash her dog.
Unfortunately (and similarly to “woke”), the term got defanged by non-Black folks and is now being used to mean “complainers.” So my nit here is not with the definition, but with the broader culture that has robbed this word of its really robust meaning. It’s about the gendered ways in which some *white* women enact white fragility, but the way I see some (usually white) men use it now it basically seems like a sexist insult for any person who sets a boundary. I saw a trail review recently in which a white guy called a trail steward a Karen for asking them gently to pick up their trash and put out an illegal campfire above 3500’. That’s not being a Karen, that’s doing a literal job that protects an ecosystem and the people who live in it. Anyway, I know that word meanings evolve, but this one’s a personal pet peeve of mine, so you all got an essay.
On that note, it’s a bluebird hiking day, and I have the great fortune of working at an org with a 4-day work week. So I’m planning to take a route today that includes an iconic scramble called the Cornell Crack on it - a buttkicking but gorgeous slog. Wish me luck!
Shana Tovah to all who celebrate - may 5784 be sweet.
This is the first puzzle I've done that has absolutely no Terrible Threes. The constructors did it on purpose. Two rows have ten black squares. Ten columns have two fours and a five. There are six grid spanners. The grid has every kind of symmetry.
I think that Lewis once said that there have been other three-less crosswords. I suppose that they also had weird grids.
Someone please explain ODEA.
Thx, David & Lee; nicely done! 😊
Med+ (Sat. time).
Didn't seem that tough; the grid spanners stretched it out a bit longer.
Fortunately was able to recall MADEA; good thing, as I sure didn't know ANDRA. Will be learning about her and the movie today.
Had a hard time seeing DISPLAY. All I could think of for L.C.D. was 'lowest common denominator', which (along with LCF/LCM) I'm getting to know quite well in my algebra studies. Just looked it up, and d'oh!, I've got a LG LCD TV sitting right in front of me (waiting to be hauled off to the electronic graveyard, as it gave up the ghost a few months ago).
Excellent adventure; enjoyed this one very much. :)
___
Peace 🕊 🇺🇦 ~ Compassion ~ Tolerance ~ Kindness ~ Freudenfreude ~ Serendipity & a DAP to all 👊 🙏
That’s a bold and stark grid design – no scattershot black squares, and lots of white. After my first pass, there was still lots of white, due to abundant vagueness in the cluing. Thus, for me, a Faith Solve, where I believe that if I stay with it long enough, the puzzle will reveal itself in full, and bring the sweet satisfaction of triumph.
What do I have faith in, in a faith solve? That my brain will work behind the scenes, cracking riddles and jogging memory, pinging me with happifying gets. When that happens, when my brain comes through like that, in those moments, my relationship with my brain is pure love. That’s a gift, to feel that way, one of Crosslandia’s many and marvelous gifts.
Second day in a row for an impressive debut. Here we have a 62-worder with hardly a whiff of junk. Also, a second day in a row with an impressive train of SCHWA-ending answers: REGATTA, STOMATA, ANDRA, ATTA, RONDA, and MADEA.
Lovely answers as well: ICE COLD BEER HERE, SIGNS POINT TO YES, SNAKE IN THE GRASS, ALASKA KING CRAB. Not to mention, one of my favorite words, SNOOD. In addition, a rare-in-crossword palindrome SOROS. And finally, three excellent NYT answer debuts in REAL ID, ICE COLD BEER HERE, and HELLS NO.
Much skill in the making of this puzzle – it never felt like a debut. I hope for more from you, David and Lee. Thank you for a most splendid outing!
Ay, the dreaded "Whoops that's an error screen". Trying again.
Technical DNF, as I had KEENE (as in the town in NH), which didn't allow me to see MEDEA, which didn't allow me to see ANDRA, a total WTF. So it goes.
I'm never sure how many R's are in HARASS (see also "embarrass"), so that was uncertain, and I have never heard anyone say HELLSNO, but that worked out.
Major issues in the NW as I had BAR and spent far too long wondering what kind of a BAR we were talking about. Even with the whole answer in, I wondered what you would serve at an ESCO-BAR. And he's a Pablo. I mean, really.
HECK is a perfect answer for darn it! Wrong though.
Today's hey, hello old friend! prize goes to SNOOD. First we get ORTS, and now SNOOD. Back to normal in crossworld.
I would also point out that to balance the complaining KARENS we have a KINGCRAB.
Nice thorny Saturday, DAR and LD. Did a Rewarding And Rigorous Long Dive into the brain attic to finish this one. Thanks for all the fun.
The woman (Amy Cooper) had HER dog off the leash in Central park and when the black man (Christan Cooper) asked her to put the dog her back on its leash, she freaked out and called the cops on him. Christian Cooper was birding at the time and did nothing wrong. Mr. Cooper is a writer and huge in the birding community he has a book out: "Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World".
Yes, mostly agree with Rex, but…was strangely happy to see my old friend SNOODS again after a long absence (34D: Hair nets).
seems beep and meep are acceptable for the road runner. though i swear there is at least one episode where coyote holds a sign up that says "beep beep" can't find proof of that this morning,
Too bad the first thing I entered, and confidently, was BUYWITHONECLICK for 16A. Not a single letter correct. Ha!
Karen predates that incident, in which a Black man who was birding asked a white woman to keep her dog on a leash in the park. He was totally in the right BTW but she called the police to complain he was threatening her.
Pablo -- what sort of calendar are you using up there in NH? Down here in Jersey it's Friday today. :)
I thought that it should be "Ohm's Law," both words in caps. But checking it out on the internet, both versions are commonly used. Same with Boyle's (L/l)aw.
Painfully slow with abundant frustrating Naticks/PPP but like @SonVolt flashed back to Yankee Stadium in the 60’s & 70’s with piercing cries of ICECOLDBEERHERE. And another SCHWA lesson from @Lewis…
Not just times of yore! I darn my hand knit socks last week.
As a public service, I present all 20 of the Magic 8-Ball answers:
Affirmative Answers Non – Committal Answers Negative Answers
It is certain Reply hazy, try again Don’t count on it
It is decidedly so Ask again later My reply is no
Without a doubt Better not tell you now My sources say no
Yes definitely Cannot predict now Outlook not so good
You may rely on it Concentrate and ask again Very doubtful
As I see it, yes
Most likely
Outlook good
Yes
Signs point to yes
Did you see that fancy outfit he wore to the LGBTQ parade?
Yeah, he really got PRIEDUP.
ALASKANKINGCRAB crossing STEAK! Add in an ICECOLDBEERHERE and you’ve got a yummy puzzle. Thanks, David A. Rubin and Lee Demertzis.
Karen was the name of a white woman who accused a black man of threatening her in Central Park. Video showed he did not.
Plural of ODEON
Hey All !
Flew through most of the puz in 10 minutes! Man, I was smokin! But then got held up in both the NW and SE corners. Still finished in 20 minutes, so quick for me.
In NW, had ___BAR, thinking, "What kind of BAR? Coke BAR? Dive BAR?" Got a chuckle when I got ESCOBAR.
In SE, just could not get SEtS out of the silly brain. Resigned myself to STOMATt, got the Almost There, went back to see the T crossed out. Erased it, and immediately saw it was an A. D'oh headslap moment! One letter stupid DNF. Ugh
Neat grid design. Surprised by how easy answers were coming. Tough to fill a grid like cleanly. Stacked 15's, 6 total. So I cut fill like ATADESK and SOROS a break. A few iffy answers to get a neat, clean grid? I'm in for that any day.
I worked at Ocean Spray for a bit, had to wear SNOODS, one for the hair, one for the beard. I was Bi-SNOODed.
No F's (Gonna go all KAREN about that!)
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Liveprof-I think I'm using the degree-of-difficulty calendar, so this is a Saturday.
Also, retirement means I frequently don't know what day of the week it is.
Plural of Odeon—“A small building of ancient Greece and Rome used for public performances of music and poetry.”
I have never ever heard anyone say "Hells No" So I'm calling a foul on that one. Did like snoods though. You never see them anymore
I really liked this puzzle and the grid symmetry. Felt difficult but ended around average time thanks to crosswordese. Fill wasn't too bad considering there are six 15-letter acrosses. Did not know MADEA/ANDRA but happy to learn them.
"Where's the stuff I left, KAREN?"
KAREN is an unambiguously derogatory term with clear sexist/racist/classist overtones. It has no place in any puzzle.
And The Roadrunner has never BEEPed, but forever MEEP MEEPed.
Yes it’s MEEPS!
@pablo -- thanks for making me smile.
"At break of DAWN, there is no sunrise / When your lover has gone," from the 1931 song by Einar Aaron Swan which was featured in the James Cagney film Blonde Crazy and become a jazz standard, with notable recordings by Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
Yes!
@Stuart 7:06 AM - Apologies I forgot to tag this when I posted it earlier, regarding the origin and meaning of ODEA:
It's the plural of "odeon" which in Ancient Greek means a place where you go to attend performances of "odes," or songs, that is, musical theater, which was the only kind of theater there was in Ancient Greece, although that encompassed both comedy and tragedy (kind of like our modern distinction between musical theater and opera).
Here’s a Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beep,_Beep_(film)?wprov=sfti1) that talks about the sound - apparently Warner Bros marketed it as “beep beep” (on signs, billboards, etc.) while the voice actor described it as “hmeep hmeep.”
The [draft announcement] "ICE COLD BEER HERE!" was ubiquitous on the beach in Coney Island where I grew up in the 1960s. Seeing it in this puzzle warmed my heart akin to the manner in which my heart was warmed by "Cousin Brewski" in a comment by @Sun Volt.
Middle and bottom were, if not easy, then a relatively smooth solve for me. Northeast fell fairly quickly because I got REGATTA early and ATTA and STET weren’t far behind. But the NW remained stubbornly unpenetrable and I ended up looking up a damn answer and that has, if not ruined my day, at least besmirched it.
I liked this puzzle way more than @Rex but my experience in the NW was very similar (but different) to his. I was VERY happy to figure out SALS and plopped in OTOE right away but put in FAST (as in breakFAST…HAH) and had IDES for my setting of tragedies (maybe ONLY Julius Caesar in retrospect), and had SOfInE and nEaT instead of PERT. What a MESS and I’m surprised I actually GOT the rest of the puzzle!
Btw…OTOE is so crosswordese that I plopped it in but MIDWEST tribe? Does the Midwest really span from Ohio to the Rockies? I look up OTOE and they only were as far “east” as Missouri. The rest of the states were Great Plains in my book.
@Weezie, good stuff on the morphing of KAREN. Yeah, like @Kitshef said, I feel sorry now for the women who have that name. It’s a name that is pretty common in MY age group.
Seems like they keep moving the date for the REALID. I would’ve thought everyone would have one now. In my state you can pretty quickly get through the DMV lines but making sure you have the necessary documentation can be a real hassle.
Medium but it felt tougher. The MADEA/ANDRA/KEANE crosses could be a Natick for some solvers. I had to stop and wait for Tyler Perry’s MADEA to float to the surface, plus I’m never sure of the KEANE spelling. ANDRA was a WOE.
RESides before RESTETH...RESTETH??? and heCK before SOCK
A bit of sparkle but a fair amount of clunkiness....@Rex AT A DESK.
I’m with the “liked the bottom half more than top” contingent.
Medium here, and fun to solve. Starting out, I managed to remember SAL'S, and the ensuing OTOE, DAWN, and ODEA gave me what I needed for the NW; REGATTA and its crosses did the same for the NE. After the ALASKAN KING CRAB, progress slowed, with the left side of the grid yielding more easily, thanks in no small part to high school biology's STOMATA. The mid-West was hardest for me, with my last square at ANDRA x MEDEA. I liked the pairing of the long-legged crab with the zero-legged SNAKE.
Help from previous puzzles: ATTA, and really all of the friendly crosswordese (ODEA, OTOE, ERTE, STET, I CAN, SOCK as clued, etc., as well as the eBay clue - after multiple times of getting faked out by silent e's and hard g's). No idea: ANDRA, MEDEA.
@kitshef 7:15, I second you regarding KAREN. "My" Karen is the most stalwart friend a person could have.
@Anonymous 5:58 - Not to pile on, but there's even an item called a darning egg, usually made of wood, that you put inside the sock so that you have a curved surface for doing your sewing repair.
The use of "Karen" in this way implies that entitled behaviour is feminine. Sucks.
Thank you for your thoughts, couldn't agree more and a Shana Tovah to you as well.
Thank you. Extremely hard to be named Karen (which I am) in this world now. I imagine men called Dick feel the same way…but I used to like my name. Also…it was originally used as a descriptor of racist white women…this was hard enough to live with…but it has become universalized to mean any white woman with a complaint about anything. Women should be able to complain.
A 62-worder with a coupla U's, no weejects, and lots and lotsa no-knows. Hate to KAREN all over its SNOOD, but HELLSBELLSNO -- not exactly my cuppa teajuice.
They're still searchin M&A's sorry solvequest for survivin nanoseconds. har. SOOODOPEy, at our house.
Thanx for gangin up on us, Rubin & Demertzis folks. Congratz on yer debuts. And nice to meetya, MADEA/ANDRA.
Masked & Anonymo2Us
almost a runt bro to today's NYTPuz:
**gruntz**
Yes! Came here to leave a first-time comment with exactly this gripe. It was such a lovely clue for camelCase lettering, and after ALASKANKINGCRAB and SNAKEINTHEGRASS I thought there might even be a bit of an animal trend in the long crosses. Missed opportunity.
EE back here regarding V=IR.
V=Voltage
I=Current
R=Resistance
from the German: , it turns out, means “Intensität,” German for ”intensity.” And when you think about it, current, or flow, is all about intensity.
Despite an avalanche of cringe worthiness, it's overcast and the coffee is world class, so it felt like a lovely rather easy puzzle, or rather three horizontal mini puzzles. The top was pretty blah, but things mostly picked up on the way down. The long answers mostly flowed right in so the god awful short stuff seemed like necessary girding.
Tee-Hee: They said SO DOPE and crossed it with ESCOBAR. Coke party at the NYTXW. Bring your TRIB.
Uniclues:
1 When you can't think of a decent uniclue, but the sounds of the words makes you so happy.
2 Four hippopotamipodes.
3 Decision to stop using stupid phrases in the NYTXW.
1 MARACAS STOMATA
2 ESCOBAR DISPLAY
3 "HELLS NO" RESTETH
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Rex references social issue and riles the Anonym-oti, in a way. UNCORKS EMAILER.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
HELL NO to an unusual Natick intersection at AN?RA and MA?EA. At least Rex chose that stumbling block for the day’s chance to LEARN some hipster culture references that will be forgotten before Sam Cooke releases his next R&B hit via AI. Thanks to the NYTXW for reveal letter option to short circuit SIRI….batteries and LOWER CASE LETTERS not included. And thanks to David & Lee for 6 delightful grid spinners.
HELL NO to HELLS NO.
You say you're "sick", which is the same as being a DOPE. YEAH, I'll buy that. If there's another translation, don't tell me.
Target audience for this puzzle: A beer guzzler who watches a lot of modern flicks, Netflix and others; plays a lot of video games, Magic 8, Yahtzee, SIMS and others; enjoys cartoons like the one with Road Runner beeping and "The Family Circus"; and takes a lot of video calls AT A DESK.
Save this puzzle, everyone. Because if our civilization were to ultimately collapse from a plethora of frivolity and an utter lack of seriousness on the part of its screen-obsessed citizenry, this puzzle will be Exhibit A. I was going to count it as a badge of honor when I failed to finish the puzzle. But I did finish it, actually. I even guessed right on the MADEA/ANDRA cross.
My wall, however, is beyond repair.
Is RONDA Rousey a wrestler or MMA?
Non-standard spellings throw a curve.
ANDRA short for Cassandra, MADEA a letter off from the more familiar Medea.
This was actually faster than many Fridays for me. Trouble as noted in the NW, but doing all the downs looked like a good approach today. I got more right the further down I went, so started with acrosses there and worked my way up.
I think this puzzle deserves a little more love, even without grading on the debut curve. Other than the suboptimal eBay clue, the 15s were all really solid, with a lot of variety and color to the fill, plus some nice wordplay in the clues.
Of course KARENS (a useful designation) got overused and corrupted at warp speed once it hit the internet, with people out looking for their own Karen so they could get views. Usually, there is more to the story, such as the woman picking up a reserved citibike and getting confronted by teenagers. Even "BBQ Becky" complaining about the black family barbecueing was wanting them to move to the area designated for that use, not under the sign that forbid it in that area, due to risks with hot coals and it being in a bird sanctuary.
I’m surprised at Rex’s rating. This was maybe the easiest Friday ever for me. My time was more of a Tuesday time. Probably had 2/3 done on the first pass then got all the long acrosses. Then only a few words left.
I liked this a lot & it wasn't challenging for me at all except that I'd never heard of "SO DOPE" (but was easy enough to figure out) & the only "KAREN" I know (like Anonymous @ 6:47) is "Goodfellas Karen Hill (great movie).
While yesterday's puzzle killed me, this was close to a Friday whoosh (except for a RW Friday).
Thanks, David & Lee.
Not too bad but struggled in the S. Just couldn't see the spanners mainly cause I went with heck for darn it.
Had to cheat for snood which I've never heard (or used) to get it done
"I have a friend named Karen who is a wonderful person." C'mon, you can do better than that.
And as an aside to what Anonymous @ 11:09 mentioned, all. my female friends made their husbands, who used to be known as "Dick", change their names to Richard.
I had to look up Narcos to get ESCOBAR, and even then I Naticked out at ANDRA/MADEA, two unusual names from the world of show biz. But I think I'm getting blase, and didn't really care.
Rex, ODEA is the plural of the Greek odeon, no need to insert a Latin middle term.
The woman who called the cops on the Central Park birder was named Amy, I'm pretty sure; "karen" is just the generic label (identical to "becky," as far as I can tell). It's only applied to women, though I'm not sure if there is an equivalent term for men.
I'm enjoying all the nostalgic reminiscences of where people heard ICE COLD BEER HERE, but gotta point out that none of them fit the clue, "draft announcement," as they all refer to bottles and/or cans.
What I learned today: apparently the puzzle is right that it's "Alaskan king crab," referring to king crab that comes from Alaska, as opposed to what I'd always thought, "Alaska king crab," which would be the name of a species. So it took me a long time to fill that one in; fortunately, Dungeness didn't fit either.
The eBay clue answer should’ve been “camelCase letter”
One of the most difficult Fridays I’ve ever done. I don’t think I’ll even read comments today because I don’t wanna hear how easy it was and I know there will be a few. A really beautiful empty grid design and the kind I gazed at with sweet anticipation of the challenge of filling. And YEAH, I did have a challenge but it turned out to be more slog fest than sweet solve. Even after googling some of the names and trivia I still struggled. Had an awful time in the NE, not knowing the flour or the Yahtzee clue and never ever heard anyone say HELLS NO.
But ICE COLD BEER HERE I’ve heard many times and it brought back some pleasant memories of KC Royals stadium. There was one particular lemonade vendor who had a unique way of announcing his presence. It always came out “ice cawoooooooooold … [pause] … lemon ade,” as if he had to stop and remember what he was selling.
Like Pablo, I had KEeNE. I think I would have solved the MADEA/ANDRA cross if I had noticed the possibility of KEANE, but alas ...
Perhaps the intent behind DAWN being "Something people like to see break" lies more in metaphor than reality.
A Cross....right in the middle of this vast white sea of emptiness. I prayed I would be able to doggie paddle to some nice little island that would have a sign that said ICE COLD BEER HERE.
I started at the bottom of the ocean. The top looked choppy to me. I figured I'd wend my up slowly and perhaps get a breath of fresh air.
I did.
I stared at the bottom of the cross; I had a K and an ASS. SNAKE IN THE GRASS. Plonk! Swim up to the top of the cross;I had a K and a CRAm. Doesn't the Road Runner do a meep thing? Stare...get a few more letter...plonk!...ALAKAN KING CRAB. BEEP BEEP!.
I'm at the surface of the ocean and a REGATTA was taking place. I wave at the crew and hope for guidance. They gave me SENATORIAL SEATS. Plonk! I thanked them because that one answer gave me the drowns I needed.
I called out an SOS for 1A and 1D. SO DOPE SALS. Thank you. Here goes my LOWER CASE LETTER.
And so it went.
I actually found this pretty easy for a Friday. ANDRA and MADEA were unknowns. I had them in the door and I had to check to see if they were kosher...they were.
Look at the rest.
KARENS. Of course that will be the topic of the day. I have two Karen friends. Karen #1 I met at a local church that handed out food for the needy. Before Covid, I would take about 3 or so dozen deviled eggs. I guess they were a hit because I was asked to bring more if I could. A wonderful woman named Karen was in charge and she was incredibly kind to these very poor and ailing homeless people.
The second Karen I know is a neighbor down the ways from me who walks dogs for the elderly. She picks up all the poop and buys puppy pads and, well, we all think she's just wonderful.
So, I feel sorry for all the nice KARENS. LESTETH the evil be smote by the wrath of god. Hah...I just made that up.
I'm off to walk the pups. I carry doggy bags.
Kindly look it up, as I did ~RP
Here here. I was shocked this was allowed. I think I remember seeing it written out in the cartoons sometimes.
Easy-medium here - would have been easy, but like Rex, got hung up with 1 and 2 Down at the end. Had Upper Case Letter for 16A, and had 18A correct, but couldn't see SAL'S even with the LS - and had watched "Do the Right Thing" a few months ago.
On that occasion, realized that Bill Nunn, who played Radio Raheem, was the person who played "Pip" in "The Job." Loved that show.
Took just about all the crosses to get STOKMATA. The Road Runner's expression does sound more like meep - but there are various spellings associated with it.
More Friday puzzles like this, please! With some tougher ones mixed in.
well complai... uh, said.
@Nancy, I’m not sure why THIS particular puzzle is Exhibit A as exemplar for our culture downfall but I do agree most of us probably watch too much television, and possibly many do too many video games. But consider SNOOD! I think of Marmie in Little Women as wearing a SNOOD. I googled it, thinking MAYBE I was wrong, but nope…it’s Little Women fashion and you can find them online (hand-chrocheted, or whatnot) on Etsy. Anyway, seems like there were many clues/answers that were actually pretty clever.
@whatsername, I think everyone today would be hard-pressed to say this puzzle wasn’t SUPER tough. And…I was a DNF in the NW with what I thought to be some “reasonable gibberish”!
@jberg, I think the ‘net community hasn’t been able to determine the name for a male equivalent of “Karen.” I’m serious even though it sounds ridiculous.
@jberg 11:51a - back then it was all draft - in the large, waxy Dixie cups with a piece of Saran Wrap secured by a rubber band on top. Probably Schaefer (the one beer to have when you’re having more than one) or Rheingold (my beer is Rheingold the dry beer).
Got a DNF because of the SE. Didn't like SODOPE or HELLSNO, even though I got them from the crosses. SIGNSPOINTTOYES never occurred to me...that's my own fault.
Here’s what happened in Central Park that day: New Yorker Amy Cooper was walking her dog in Central Park’s Ramble area, a little patch of semi-wilderness in an otherwise manicured park. She allowed her dog off the leash, which is against the rules. But on the other hand, the Ramble is the one little-frequented spot in the entire vast park where it kinda, sorta seems like rules don’t apply. For decades, the rules definitely didn’t apply: It was a popular gay pickup location for connoisseurs of anonymous al fresco sex.
On Memorial Day, Cooper, a middle-aged white woman, was allowing her dog to run off-leash, breaking a rule that is widely ignored, albeit crucial for bird-watchers. Nearby was another New Yorker, Christian Cooper, a middle-aged black man of no relation to her. Mr. Cooper is an avid birder and doesn’t much like dogs interfering with his avian observations. So he issued what to her sounded like a threat to poison her dog. Ms. Cooper freaked out. Who wouldn’t?
Yeah as a kid I always heard "meep meep". But I've always seen it written out as "beep beep" which has irritated me my entire life.
Rare day for me: Rex found it challenging but I found it very easy! The top went in very quick, mainly because of all the tired crosswordese (example: surely it's not OTOE? Really, ODEA again?) And yes AT A DESK is pretty awful.
Hands up for MEEP. Never heard of REAL ID; guess it's US only. Agree AN-RA and MA-EA is a real Natick.
[Spelling Bee: Thurs 0, yay no goofy words! Like @puzzlehoarder, Sun -2, Mon-Thu 0.]
Exactly! Karen used to have a specific meaning, but now white guys have decided they can just use it when the want to say bitch. That is what makes it misogynistic, not the original meaning.
Nothing gives me more joy than concluding that a puzzle is EASY that Rex characterized as CHALLENGING. If only the acrosses had been there I would never have finished, but the downs filled in the puzzle pretty quickly.
Nothing gives more post hoc distress than having named my daughter Karen, which at the time (n decades ago) I considered a strong name unlikely to be diminutivated. True. But who knew? She deals with it OK though.
I’m a Karen, and I’m hit with a shock of pain and resentment when I see my name used as a slur. It’s not funny.
On first glance I was daunted by the sparse "black squares" in the grid. First pass I managed 3 fills and I fully expected to end with a frustrating DNF. Gradually things began to click and I soon discovered that most of the fill was firmly within my wheelhouse ... it just took a bit of focus to connect the pieces.
Wound up with a finish time that was likely in my top 20% for a Friday. Every minute of the solve was quite satisfying. All 5 of the 15-letter fills were nailed with less than 50% of the crosses in place, which really greased the skids. Loved that much of the cluing was sufficiently abstract; at the same time, nothing brought a smile to my face or made my eyes twinkle.
One the whole, an extremely satisfactory solve. I look forward to more from Rubin/Demertzis ... maybe with a greater "wit" infusion next time :)
Yikes, 15D REAL ID had me worried that my DMV issued driver's license might be fake. Nope. Not sure why, but having a little image of a star (or a flag apparently) makes it REAL.
Liked the "All sizzle and no STEAK" and "GO BIG or go home" pair in the midsection.
Wasn't DOO RONE one of the seminal Doo-Wop songs back in the fifties?
In other news, ANDRA ATTA ATADESK was just appointed Beserkistan's latest prime minister.
Hells yes/yeah feels way more like still a thing to me than HELLS NO.
Anyway, just coming here to gloat a little. I've been going through so many of the archives recently and always annoyed when I find a Sat I just took over an hour to struggle through and come looking to Rex for validation and he calls it easy. This time the opposite! Easy for me on this one, but maybe my path was just luckier.
Still a good writeup and agree with most points, especially those terrible answers in the NW. However, overall, I though the grid was really lively and quite smooth considering all the spanners. I really liked it, though it did rely on more crosswordese than I would have preferred.
I've managed to never have been on a Zoom meeting, but I were to partake of one, I certainly would do it ATADESK. You know what else I would do at said desk? EATASANDWITCH. I do so like to EATASANDWITCH ATADESK. I enjoy it so much, I do it even when I'm not hungry, I EATASNDWITCH ATADESK ONALARK.
The Otoe-Missouria people are still here! Please reconsider using the past tense in referring to living cultures. The past tense perpetuates "terminal narratives" and harmful stereotypes that Native peoples are extinct.
Wow! Finally had a “challenging” Friday puzzle that I solved faster than my average time. I actually put down _EEPS without hesitation, thinking that either B or M would be valid. Had HOOD pencilled in for 1-down which certainly did not help anything in the top of the grid, but man, that’s a lot of open 15s, and I’ll say HELLSNO to anyone who expresses disappointment with this one.
Late to the party, but this is insane. Started this at early this morning, got no where after the first pass. Just sat down at 4:30 and boom! Done. Loved this puzzle. Every word made me happy.
I used to be Karen-ish. My last outburst was at a guy at the Whole Foods pizza counter who let me stand there waiting for a few minutes while he chatted up a coworker, and then when a sweet young thing walked up to the counter, sauntered over and asked if her if she wanted that last slice. I almost leapt over the counter to strangle him. After he handed me my rightful slice, I apologized to the teenager and then glared back at him. Snake In The Grass. He was old enough to be her uncle.
My inner Karen has passed on. I kinda miss her.
This is the type of puzzle I love… Challenging, but totally doable… makes me feel smart. My only write-over was uppercase before lowercase.
@JD 5:12. HAH!. I guess I might've been Karen-ish myself. I once had been waiting for about 15 minutes to pick up my dry cleaning. The lady who ran it was also very chatty; she seemed to know every one by name except mine. I remember I was in a hurry that day so I stood around and sorta huffed and puffed. When it finally came my turn, this other lady came - out of breath - and asked for her dry cleaning ASAP. I glared and said "You have to wait your turn" or maybe I might've cursed her in Spanish. The dry cleaning lady then nicely explained to me that that lady had a very sick child and she only had very little time to run her few errands. Then went on to tell me that she was sure I was a good Christian and wouldn't mind......I did and then felt bad about it later and I never went back to that dry cleaners again.
Does that qualify?
I raced through this one - nice to struggle less than Rex for once
I wasn’t surprised by the difficulty rating, I was shocked! For some reason, I found this one extremely easy. I finished it in one sitting, while eating lunch, which is rare on a Friday. I read that this puzzle was originally slated for Saturday, but reviewers thought it was too easy for a Saturday, so they moved it.
It might be a foul to you but apparently it does exist in the wild. Someone above pointed out that they heard it on Long Island.
Jus because you or I ( I have never heard it either) does NOT mean it is erroneous. This is a big country!
He did not
Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there ...what does he care?
Another prime candidate for worst evah. Unspeakable.
Definitely meeps!
Sorry if this a duplicate, but in answer to the (at least) two queries about ODEA, it's the plural of Latin "Odeum," which I think but am not sure is a borrowing from Greek "Odeon." Corrections welcomed if I have this wrong.
Cousin Brewski is a cute play on famous dj Cousin Brucie (Bruce Morrow) but several beer hawkers used that phrase with here being spelled with several eees.
I feel like Rex is being a KAREN about this puzzle due to frustration rather than valid criticism, though I agree on the eBay clue, which is unfortunate because the fill itself is an actual thing.
But "Sick!" *also* equals SODOPE, which is probably uttered 5 times more often than "dope" alone, and his complaint about "issuance" just sounds like he failed to immediately drop REALID off the R in the REGATTA gimme, etc. (REALID is indeed a LICENSE.) And OHMS law? That same clue has been in the puzzle 12 times, so even a liberal arts major who does the puzzle daily should have heard of it by now.
That aside, I finished this in half my normal Friday time, so I was stunned by Rex's difficulty rating. SENATORIALSEATS (nothing wrong with that fill) dropped right in after filling in SALS, and ditto for ALASKANKINGCRAB after dropping SILK.
Didn't care for the MADEa/KEaNE cross, nor the MAdEA/ANdRA cross, but I guessed both correctly based on the lesser of evils.
ICECOLDBEERHERE is the best 15-letter fill I've seen all year. It's the exact phrase I hear multiple times at every baseball game I go to, along with, "Fresh peanuts!"
I do find the word Karen in this context offensive and I wish the New York Times would choose to not clue it this way. I appreciate Rex at least acknowledging that this is some people's experience.
I rarely tear through a Friday this quickly.
It was mostly enjoyable until the very end, when I finally had to confront MA_EA (which I'd never heard of) crossed with AN_RA (ditto, no idea at all on this one), and I remember Bil KE_NE because that comic was so unfunny it made me angry, and that's hard to forget.
What's easy to forget is if there's an E or an A in the middle of KE_NE, which brings me back to MA_EA.
So I just guessed until I heard the music, then sorta shrugged and walked away.
DNF. First one in ages. Beaten by the SE corner. Not alone am I?
Hand up for RESides, my only inkblot. This played more medium than challenging here, maybe even leaning toward easyish.
Quite a stark grid: four five-bars, a couple of short Ts and a cross. Lotsa white. I started with old favorite Bil KEANE, and SILK. Those Ks gave me ALASKANKINGCRAB right away, and I was off and running.
Fifteens put a strain on things, so I wasn't surprised that the fill contained some owies. HELLSNO? Um, isn't one hell enough?? I do appreciate the intersection with BELLS, though.
One NE clue really had me baffled for a while: 8+, for Yahtzee. Nonsense, until I finally realized it was the recommended AGES to play. Grrr!
Hit and miss on the spanners. Par.
Wordle birdie.
BIG SEATS
KAREN sits ATADESK now,
she’s NO SNAKINTHEGRASS,
but YEAH, she’ll LOWER her TROU
TO DISPLAY – YES, HARASS.
--- RONDA ANDRA ESCOBAR
K I get it. Comics and games abound.
Diana, LIW
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