Old coin in France / MON 2-26-24 / Greeting that originated on the Indian subcontinent / Extra-attentive coddling, for short / "Definitely husband material!"

Monday, February 26, 2024

Constructor: Joe Marquez

Relative difficulty: Medium (solved Downs-only)


THEME: "DRINKS ON ME!" (59A: "I'm paying for this round" ... or a literal hint to this puzzle's theme) — three different drinks (found in shaded squares inside longer answers) are each found atop the letters "ME" (found in circled squares):

Theme answers:
  • RIVER MOUTH (17A: Where silt builds up to create a delta) / RCA DOME (20A: Former stadium for the Indianapolis Colts)
  • TWIN-ENGINE (28A: Like many small, powerful airplanes) / BLAME (34A: Culpability)
  • "HE'S A KEEPER" (46A: "Definitely husband material!") / MELTS (49A: Oven-warmed sandwiches)
Word of the Day: NAMASTE (42D: Greeting that originated on the Indian subcontinent) —
Namaste (/ˈnʌməst/, Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called namaskar and namaskaram, is a customary Hindu manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. It is used in the Indian subcontinent, and among the Indian and Nepalese diasporaNamaste is usually spoken with a slight bow and hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointing upwards, thumbs close to the chest. This gesture is called añjali mudrā; the standing posture incorporating it is pranamasana. [...] The gesture of folding hands during a namaste is called the Añjali Mudrā. In addition to namaste, this mudrais one of the postures found in Indian classical dance such as Bharatanatyam, and in yoga practice. (wikipedia)
• • •

Well this one was dead in the water for two reasons. The first, smaller reason is that "DRINKS ARE ON ME." That is the phrase. That is what you say, formally or informally. That is the complete sentence, and since the clue is a complete sentence—but more importantly because it's what you actually say—the answer should be "DRINKS ARE ON ME." Also, sidenote, if it was a "next round" situation, you wouldn't say "DRINKS (ARE) ON ME" at all, since the last ones weren't, and the next ones won't be. You'd just say something like "I got this round." Sigh. OK, so there's that. But the bigger issue, for me, the drinker, is that ... these are all wines. These aren't "drinks," they're a subcategory of "drinks," specifically wines. If you're going to do a "DRINKS (ARE) ON ME" theme, then mix your drinks up, for god's ... sake (!). Give me a BEER or a GIN or a SOJU or something! Yes, SAKE is rice wine, not grape wine, but ... bah, WINE is so weak as a "drink" here, given that the other two answers Are Also Wines. There's just not enough breadth to the drinks menu. Extremely disappointing. The whole "on ME" part of this theme is kind of cute, but ... make it "DRINKS ARE ON ME" and then lose the "VERMOUTH" answers and get yourself a drink from a different drink family. Something *not* "WINE," preferably. Those changes would've made this theme much more tolerable.


As a Downs-only solve, this one gave me a little resistance, but nothing I couldn't work through, eventually. The longer Downs all came relatively easily, and since those answers are often the killers in a Downs-only situation, I felt lucky. But I ended up having a little trouble with a couple of short side-by-side answers in fairly sequestered parts of the grid, specifically the answers that turned out to be AGOG / HOSE and LAUGH / ANGLE. I wanted EWER (!) for HOSE (13D: Alternative to a watering can), which tells you exactly how long I've been doing crosswords (A: too long). I also kinda wanted RAPT before AGOG (does anyone ever really want AGOG?) (12D: Breathless with excitement). As for the LAUGH / ANGLE part, I had to wait until I got the "HE" part of "HE'S A KEEPER" before I was able to get any purchase on either of them. I kinda wanted LAUGH, but was not at all sure (26D: Ha-ha-ha) ... until the "H" confirmed it. As for ANGLE, that was just hard without help from crosses (27D: Hidden motive). But with "HE" and then LAUGH, it wasn't too tough to pick up ANGLE. Since I know NAMASTE primarily as the word you frequently say at the close of yoga practice, the clue didn't help me too much at first (42D: Greeting that originated on the Indian subcontinent), but the SAKE / "ME" bit, plus SAFARI, gave me enough letters to get there. Only other issues were minor two-letter missteps: ECU for SOU (one of the crosswordesiest kealoas* you're ever likely to encounter) (7D: Old coin in France), and then BROKER (?) for BANKER (34D: Loan officer, e.g.).


"I KID YOU NOT!" is a fantastic bit of flair, liked it a lot (30D: "No joke!"). And as a standalone answer, I think "HE'S A KEEPER!" is pretty great as well. I wish there'd been more to love. And I love drinks! This theme should've worked on me! Ah well. Maybe next time. See you tomorrow.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

*kealoa = a pair of words (normally short, common answers) that can be clued identically and that share at least one letter in common (in the same position). These are answers you can't just fill in quickly because two or more answers are viable, Even With One or More Letters In Place. From the classic [Mauna ___] KEA/LOA conundrum. See also, e.g. [Heaps] ATON/ALOT, ["Git!"] "SHOO"/"SCAT," etc.


[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

62 comments:

jae 12:12 AM  

Medium. Started off strong and then got bogged down a bit in the center. LAUGH did not come easily.

Clever theme, smooth grid, a hint of sparkle, liked it, but I agree with @Rex about the “DRINKS”. I don’t agree with him about the reveal needing an “ARE”, I’ve been bars enough to have heard it both ways, especially if the person buying has had a few.

Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #888 had an easy top half and a tougher bottom. I had a wrong answer in the SE that I held onto for way too long. I finally fixed it by clearing the grid of errors…so while I didn’t look anything up I did cheat. May you all have a better experience. Good luck!

egsforbreakfast 12:56 AM  

To see where my fortune had gone, I put all my EXES on one AXIS. On the other was alimony payments. ANA was the worst, with GLENN Close behind.

Sign on an unleased billboard: Put Your ADHERE. We offer great ADVANTAGES.

I was an Eagle Scout. I could tie a square knot, a slip knot, a granny knot. IKIDYOUNOT.

Sign on an unleased billboard: Put Your ADHERE. We offer great ADVANTAGES.

I was an Eagle Scout. I could tie a square knot, a slip knot, a granny knot. IKIDYOUNOT.

Maybe @Rex would have liked the revealer more if it had been phrased more like a proud Dad at the bar..... DRINKSONME paying. I really don't get the beef about wines. But whatevs, it was all good for a Monday. Thanks, Joe Marquez.


SharonAK 2:08 AM  

Seemed easy for a Monday did't notice the "me"s user the drink names until I filled i the revealer, which was my last answer. Then I looked back and thought it was kind of cute.
Saw just the tip of Rex's complaint. Don't agree that the phrase is always drink are n me thus spoiling the revealer. I liked it.
Didn't find any real humor or sparkle in the puzzle before I saw the theme, but did not find it dull either

Do people writing in diaries actually start an entry with "Dear Diary" Never thought about it before, but now tht I have...

Conrad 5:17 AM  


I don't know my old football stadia. Wanted something referencing RC cola at 20A, which turned out to be RCA DOME.

My only other overwrite was UNreSt before UNEASE at 25D.

Adam12 5:55 AM  

I think it’s time to add DORIC/IONIC to the KEA/LOA conundrum.

Wanderlust 6:27 AM  

Easy downs-only for me - a rare one where my time was faster than my Monday average, which includes years of traditional solving. I thought I might fail on the same LAUGH / ANGLE spot that Rex mentions. I had it’S A KEEPER first, thinking of a fish. When I changed it to HE’’S, I saw LAUGH and then got ANGLE from the crosses. Proud of myself for getting I KID YOU NOT from just the I and the N from the themers.

The missing ARE in the revealer also kind of bothered me, but I did not notice that the three drinks were all types of WINE. I would not get rid of VERMOUTH because it’s the longest. Gin, rum, rye all seem too easy to get into a phrase. Try tequila or vodka.

Rex, if you like Manhattans, get some St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram and sub it for the VERMOUTH. Delicious.

@egs, I always enjoy your alternate readings of answers. How about, what did Lucy do when she found her hubby had cheated her out of her show’s earnings? SUE DES.

NJT 6:35 AM  

I usually agree with Rex, but I'm going to nitpick the DRINKS (are) ON ME issue, because I've definitely used the phrase with or without the "are".

Otherwise, I guess vermouth is technically a wine, but I never really think of it that way, mostly because it's an ingredient in my favorite cocktail - the far-superior-to-the-negroni boulevardier.

SouthsideJohnny 6:42 AM  

Finished it and thought to myself that “Rex is going to light this theme up like a Christmas Tree” but he actually went kind of easy on it - just pointed out the fact that SAKE and VERMOUTH are just a type of WINE and there are no DRINKS in the grid and moved on.

I thought the RCA DOME might give a few people (non-New Yorkers who don’t know the mayor) some trouble, but the crosses probably come to the rescue on a Monday.

Lots of old friends stopping by today - URDU, EERIE, IWO, IRA, UGG - fill that’s pretty much welcome any day of the week.

Anonymous 6:50 AM  

Vermouth is a drink in it's own right, served as an aperitif, with ice and lemon. Try it, Rex, and try to be a little more broad-minded ...

smalltowndoc 7:04 AM  

As painful as it is to admit this, I agree with everyone Rex said (wrote?), including the two only good answers and the missing "ARE".

kitshef 7:10 AM  

Unusually good theme for a Monday. As I had no idea that VERMOUTH is a wine, that didn’t bother me at all. The clues should have been toughened up some, though – even on a Monday.

I did not solve downs only, but if I had I have no idea how I would have made it past ENOLA.

kitshef 7:15 AM  

Croce Freestyle 888 was very, very easy. The easiest since #813. Alas, the puzzle has an incorrect plural form that tainted the solve a bit for me.

Lewis 7:25 AM  

This theme triggered the memory of an unforgettable moment of my life, probably the longest moment as well.

Ages ago I was working as a waiter in a steak house, and on this night, I was serving a four-top of men in suits. Everything had gone smoothly through the main course, and they were sitting with coffee. I came around with a carafe to top up their cups, and was behind one of the guests when my to stubbed against a crease in the carpet and a dollop of steaming joe spilled out and landed on his shoulder. Nobody saw this happen.

Now this scalding liquid had some distance to go before reaching this guest’s shoulder. It had to soak through the jacket, shirt, and perhaps an undershirt as well. This was that longest moment, that agonizing wait, two seconds probably, that felt like an eternity. I was frozen, speechless, helpless, not knowing what to do.

Oh, the burn came, I saw a moment of confusion on his face, then he rubbed his shoulder with his hand, quickly stood and looked at me, jaw dropped, as I profusely apologized.

It all ended well (I paid for having his suit cleaned), but what I will never forget is that moment of waiting, waiting, waiting for the coffee to travel through the layers.

These are the moments that add texture to a life. Now I laugh about it. It makes for a good story, and thank you for triggering it, Joe, with your DRINKS ON ME theme!

Son Volt 7:26 AM  

Yet again with the shaded squares and circles - the dumbing down of our great country. Agree with Rex on the wine nit - not so much on revealer itself. The informal - verb less DRINKS ON ME definitely a thing and apt for a bar setting.

UKES

I love the big guy doubling down on Lloyd Cole. Overall fill here was 50-50. Liked NAMASTE, ELIDES and I KID YOU NOT. The glue in the center is rough as is EXES and SOU.

Keep the circles out of my grids.

GLENN Tipton

David Grenier 7:27 AM  

I think DRINKS ON ME is fine without the (are). Quick easy Monday. The longer answers gave me just as much resistance as one could expect while still being Monday-accessible to new solvers. Wanted HES THE ONE but didn’t fit. Needed a few crosses to get I KID YOU NOT. etc.

Lewis 7:29 AM  

Oh, it was a lovely puzzle as well, with the sparkling I KID YOU NOT, HE’S A KEEPER, and NAMASTE. And I liked seeing the “footing the bill” theme echoed with SPATS, UGG, and SUEDES. This fun solve and the memory it triggered made for a rich start to the week for me – thank you again, Joe!

JD 7:30 AM  

Easy, but brilliant, clean little Monday. One pass, mostly acrosses. A tiny brag because that never happens. The reveal was actually an aha because I hadn't noticed the Me underneath until I'd gotten to it.

I've said and heard, Drinks On Me. And I call BS on these not being drinks. Vermouth is a stretch, I admit, but you can drink it. And if you say Drinks On Me, I'd have Wine. Sake would be fun, especially sparkling Sake.




I'm just saying... 7:46 AM  

A perfectly fine puzzle ... I don't think anyone else was bothered by "Drinks on Me."

Dr.A 7:50 AM  

Aw I liked this one! It was a cute theme. I see your point but it’s still fun to me.

PH 7:55 AM  

Joe's debut was just a few months ago (the QR code). Both puzzles were above-average for a Monday imo, and I particularly liked this one. Congrats, and cheers!

andrew 8:36 AM  

Every other day, every other day of the week is fine, yeah.
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes, you find me bored out of my mind.

Monday, Monday. Don’t like this day.

Trina 8:36 AM  

Liked it! I started my drinking career with vermouth …

Not at all bothered by “drinks on me”. That’s probably how I would say it. Can’t believe that occasioned a full rexrant.

pabloinnh 8:37 AM  

I saw VERMOUTH in the shaded squares and thought-"Here we go, a martini ingredients theme", and I don't even drink martinis. And then came WINE, which I'm pretty sure doesn't go in a martini, and away went that possible theme.

Some good fun stuff here, as others have noted. I liked SNIT crossing SPAT and seeing SOU clued with a classic crossword clue--"Old coin of France". Yeah, that's the ticket.

Good introductory type of Monday as answers-in-circles and a rebus-puzzle-for-beginners. Perfectly good Monday, JM. Just Might be my favorite early week puzz in a while, and thanks for all the fun.

@JC66 from yesterday--tired to give you a shout out for your appearance, but the ether ate it. I said yesterday that I've given up on pablo and am now going to granddaughters, as that one had TESSA. Today's has EMMA, so good call by me. I think ROO can retire undefeated if he wants to though.

Ted Rosenthal 8:42 AM  

Although in this country sake is generally referred to as a rice wine, that is a bit of a misnomer as technically its production process makes it more a beer than a wine. I do agree that working a cocktail into this should have been possible and would have been better.

Fun_CFO 8:42 AM  

(Are) is definitely more common phrase but w/o is also definitely acceptable.

I do agree with the notion that’s it’s a barsy/clubby phrase and these “drinks” fall flat in that particular context. Would have loved cocktail names, and/or even a proper noun beer/ale. Basically, drink orders that people would actually say following DRINKSONME.

All in all, not bad by any stretch, just could have been better.

Anonymous 8:52 AM  

I never agree with Rex about anything - especially politics - but I agree with him 100% today....

Anonymous 8:55 AM  

Thought the same thing about all being wine-esque.

Plus, having bartended for years, I can count on one closed hand how many times someone ordered a vermouth by itself. Not a drink in this country.

Bob Mills 8:55 AM  

Never heard of NAMASTE, but the puzzle was easy enough that it didn't matter. I don't feel as strongly about DRINKSONME as Rex Parker does...it's a crossword puzzle shortcut, not a test of one's grammatical wisdom.

RooMonster 9:00 AM  

Hey All !
When you say something inappropriate to a woman, and she throws her drink on you - DRINKS ON ME!

Liked this puz. Simple, but layered Theme. Actually had SODA for SAKE, which begat HESODAPPER, regardless that I was missing an S. But knew it had to be ELIDES, not aLIDES. So was able to change it.

I'm sure it was a bit on the tough side to construct, as the MEs needed to be under the drinks, but the fill came out nice. Hardly an UGG. Har.

Dang, just a Z short of the Pangram. Rejigger the NE to be
UTZ_
NEON
DARE
ERGE
Viola! ZORG was the bad dude's name in The 5th Element movie. C'mon Joe! 😁

Happy Monday (if you're retired.)

One F
RooMonster
DarrinV

Nancy 9:06 AM  

What an adorable theme.

But I made it harder for myself when trying to guess the revealer because I considered the rather obvious DRINKS [ARE] ON ME to be a no-no. You can't use ME twice, once in the grid and once in the revealer, can you? I thought.

So I eliminated ME in my mind and substituted "I". I'M UNDER the what????

Nope, can't be UNDER; we've got an UNDER in UNDERGO at 10D. Moving right along. I'M BENEATH the what??? I'M BELOW the what??? The booze? The liquor? The alcohol. Meanwhile I'm slowing my solve down to a crawl so I'll figure it before I get to the revealer.

Too fast. There's the revealer, obvious as all get-out, hiding in plain sight. With a repetition of ME.

So more guessable than I expected. But still a very cute puzzle. It went down nice and easy. Hic.

Michelle 9:34 AM  

A third kealoa: FETE and Fest.

I think OFL is too picky on the theme phrasing.

Anonymous 9:46 AM  

Nice fresh clues and answers , clever theme, easy - great Monday puzzle. Felt uplifted so that's a big win for any day of week! Thanks to constructor/editor, more please

Whatsername 9:59 AM  

“DRINKS ON ME!” is definitely a thing and a brilliant theme idea, but I do agree that the puzzle would have been greatly enhanced if actual drinks had been used for the theme entries. VERMOUTH, WINE and SAKE just seem like odd choices for your neighborhood bar. But do away with the shaded squares and just throw in say, a DRY MARTINI, a SCREWDRIVER and - in honor of the indomitable Don Draper – an OLD FASHIONED and as Rex said, much more tolerable IMHO. But I know little about constructing and maybe that wasn’t even feasible, so pay ME no mind. It’s Monday and it’ll be fine.

Nancy 10:05 AM  

@Lewis -- A table of four people is called a "four-top" in restaurant lingo? Golly, the things you learn on a crossword blog. Whatever happened to "foursome"?

Anonymous 10:16 AM  

As usual…if Rex hated it I LOVED it ! Quick and fun and breezy…thank you Mr. Marquez…

Nancy 10:16 AM  

For @Wanderlust (6:27)

gramMAR TINIest

thROB ROYal

AuSTIN GERmans

MiaMI MOSAic

How would I clue them? I haven't the foggiest idea. That's probably why they're not there.

Teleiotes 10:20 AM  

Some objective evidence that "drinks on me" is absolutely acceptable:

https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=drinks+on+me%2Cdrinks+are+on+me&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=en-2019&smoothing=3

It's always been a less common variant, but in 2019 "drinks on me" is said at about 30% of the rate of "drinks are on me" -- at least as it's written in books.

And it's also entirely grammatical, when viewed through the long tradition of skipping articles and the verb "to be" when using adjectives and participle forms in things like newspaper headlines and other shortened communication. E.g. instead of saying "the mayoral promise was broken", they declare "mayoral promise broken" -- broken is the past participle here, and we drop the "the".

In this way, if you're in a noisy bar trying to be heard, "on me" functions as the adjective, and "the drinks are on me" becomes "drinks on me" -- both the "the" and "are" are dropped.

For more on the grammar:

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/examining-participles-through-news-headlines/5612546.html

Carola 10:21 AM  

@Nancy, I was also thinking "under" as in "under the influence," but it wasn't quite right in meaning and definitely not in length. So, the actual reveal was both a d'oh! moment and a delight.

I'm neither a DRINKer or DRINKS buyer, so @Rex's criticisms of the theme answers and reveal didn't occur to me. I don't think I knew VERMOUTH and SAKE were WINEs. Anyway, I liked the idea of VERMOUTH in the RIVER MOUTH - much nicer than silt - and thought I KID YOU NOT and HE'S A KEEPER were great, with JUROR, TUDORS, and NAMASTE also deserving a nod.

jb129 10:36 AM  

Easiest Monday ever. All the quibbling on DRINKS ON ME or Drinks are on me - who cares? Someone else is paying so enjoy it, right?

Sam 10:46 AM  

Third ever puzzle solved downs only. Fun!

Julie-Anne 10:55 AM  

Enormous missed opportunity for this ROUND is on me! The MEs are literally inside round circles. I actually filled ROUNDSONME originally, which I feel to be not any worse than DRINKSONME.

I also entirely missed the drinks hidden inside the theme answers.

Masked and Anonymous 11:02 AM  

Kinda complex puztheme for a MonPuz -- with many layers. Liked.
And HASTA NAMASTE! Only a Z short of a pangrammer -- on a Monday, mind U. Spunky.

staff weeject pick: SOU. This came the closest to makin M&A want a drink.
(Sour mash, anyone?)
memememe!

fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {Contented cat's sound} = PURR. Always nice to have that sorta gimme, right outta the gate. [purrrr]
other fave stuff included: ALOUD clue. IKIDYOUNOT. SAFARI. MONTHS. URDU.

Thanx for the round offering, Mr. Marquez dude. Most generous of U. [and literally so]

Masked & Anonymo11Us


**gruntz**

Gene 11:07 AM  

Agree, pretty easy downs only. Disagree, actually LOLed at, criticism of the theme's "inconsistencies".

CT2Napa 11:15 AM  

Thanks Nancy

When the nitpickers are complaining, they should always give examples of how they would have done it. In this case the "drink" has to be imbedded in the answer i.e. not New York borough = Manhattan

So here are three

buG IN a rug - snug as a ____

LarRY Ellison -- Oracle founder

AsCOT CHang -- bespoke shirtmaker (hardly a Monday clue)

Gary Jugert 11:15 AM  

That's an NPR listener's list of alcohol. That's a Baby Boomer's list of ME.

The good news about being a teetotaler is you never have to pay for anybody's booze, the bad news is you don't have any friends.

Uniclues:

1 Why the tourist in Pakistan stuck to English.
2 Assessor at a fishing competition.
3 Carbs and protein backward.
4 Obstinate judge's comment to disagreeing fashion-forward host.
5 Feeling around the campfire after a lion ate the leader.
6 Ookie stank on a glove.
7 Cheaters emcee.
8 Capitalism.
9 Disagreement over the wisdom of crowning a nine year old.
10 Stick Hawaiian tourist's memorabilia to the wall.
11 Endure Henry et. al. in 1485.
12 Theme of excursion to Mar-a-Lago.

1 URDU ALOUD? NO GO.
2 NET JUROR
3 LATS TWIN ENGINE
4 HE'S A KEEPER TYRA
5 SAFARI SUBDUED
6 MITT EERIE 'ROMA
7 I SEE SPATS STAR
8 BANKER ROT (~)
9 TUT UNEASE SNIT
10 ADHERE HER UKES
11 UNDERGO TUDORS
12 "I KID YOU NOT" TOUR (~)

My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Making latté art. STYLING CREMA CHASERS.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Dede 11:20 AM  

Five minutes faster than my usual Monday., so pretty easy.
Maybe, just maybe, the speaker was offering to pay for just one drink, then “DRINKS ON ME” would work. Hmm.
(I’ll just let myself out)
Hasta mañana.

Masked and Anonymous 12:11 PM  

p.s.
M&A was at first slightly feather-ruffled, when just noticin that EMERGE's ME didn't have a drink on it.
Then I realized, of course, that black square+DUOS is clearly short for "dos equis dark".
soooo … ok.

M&Also

Liveprof 1:05 PM  

@Son Volt. Thanks for that gorgeous ukulele song. Happy to learn about Israel Kamakawiwoʻole too.

Wanderlust 1:22 PM  

Nice! I like the second and fourth ones. They could be clued in a wacky way that is drinks-adjacent. For the second, “What King Charles has in his head the morning after a bender?” And for the fourth, “South Florida artwork of a Cuba Libre?” Oh, and for the third, “Those hefting hefeweizens in the Texas capital?”

Anoa Bob 1:34 PM  

@Lewis, your DRINKS ON ME episode reminded me of my most embarrassing moment when I was living and working in Japan in the 80s. I had to change trains on the way to one of my work sites. I thought I had figured out the schedule and that I would have enough time---ten to fifteen minutes---between trains to have a cup of coffee.

So I'm standing on the platform with a cup of hot coffee that I just bought when my train pulls in. Whaaaat?! The doors opened and a tsunami of riders behind me surged forward, bumped into me and the contents of the no-lid coffee cup flew out and drenched a lady in front me. You can imagine my absolute horror at what had just happened in a matter of a few seconds!

Her first reaction was one of pure terror then she did her best to smile but it was understandably unconvincing. I was mortified and apologized profusely but it was definitely one of those "Want to get away?" moments. I still have a lingering PTSD from that incident. I'd bet she does too and that hers is worse.

[Takes a few deep breaths.] I thought it was a nice touch when Rex connected yesterday's 1D "Rock band with a slash (but not Slash)" ACDC to today's theme with their song "Have A Drink On Me".

johnk 2:23 PM  

I see that the GIN is not on me, but OK.

Joe Dipinto 2:28 PM  

I don't know. I have no problem with the drinks all being wines, and finding the drinks spanning several words is clever, but situating each one above a two-letter progression that occurs in thousands of words doesn't seem like much of a feat to me. DRINKS ON THE HOUSE, though it's 16 letters long, might have made for a more interesting theme, with a different type of house under each drink (e.g. TUDOR, which occurs in this grid). But whatever.

When cigarette ads were ubiquitous. Trivia: the composer of this song was Mitch Leigh, who wrote the music for the show "Man of La Mancha".

Edith Zimmerman 2:31 PM  

I didn’t mind the “drinks on me”(definitely the right phrase!), but wouldn’t it also be grammatically correct if it’s a single drink? “Drink’s on me”? Like pointing at the drink your friend just ordered? Probably not the intention but still could be argued!

burtonkd 4:31 PM  

@Lewis, my server/liquid/spill was a tray of oysters on ice that slowly spilled on the lap of a gentleman as I was talking to someone else at his table. Fortunately just the melted ice and no oysters or cocktail sauce.

This was one of the fastest Mondays ever solving normally.

Much as I enjoyed the Martini recipe discussion the first time it came up, glad not to repeat it (again) today. Was that Tautology?

I see Rex's possible improvements on the theme (and Joe's), but would not by any means declare this to be "dead in the water". If the theme was "The drinks are on me", the complaint would be that it lacks the colloquial zip of the way people actually speak...Quite a lot of variety in the "wine" category: regular, fortified, and whatever beer/wine fermentation hybrid goes into making sake.

Nice to see an ENOLA clue that doesn't bring to mind atomic explosions. Now that I think about it, I wonder when this was last clued _____ Gay.

dgd 5:44 PM  

Whatshername
I thought you would make note of 39 down clue What’s ___ name?

dgd 6:13 PM  

I don’t do downs only, but thought this was very easy even for a Monday. Agree with those who found drinks on me perfectly fine.
As someone noted, vermouth is much more likely to be consumed straight in Europe than the US. But close enough for crosswords. I liked seeing it in the grid because the first time I went to Europe over 50 years ago, I learned that if you asked for a martini there you’d receive a Martini brand glass of vermouth, in this case sweet.!
30 years later I was in Barcelona with my brother and he made the same mistake with the same result. This was a more local oriented place and the bartender tried but could not make an American martini. I assume these days that bars with many American tourist customers would know the difference, especially with the internet.

Charlotte 7:44 PM  

This could be a generational thing since I am Gen Z, but I have only ever said the phrase 'Drinks on me' without the are. I would only use the phrase after inviting someone out to drinks, eg. 'lets go to happy hour! Drinks on me', if I am talking about the next round then I would say 'next rounds on me' once again dropping the implied words. I don't know if it's is Gen Z thing in general to drop small words in sentences, but I do notice it in my friend groups speech patterns.

ghostoflectricity 8:18 PM  

54-Across reminds me of a New Orleans-originated and -based roots rock band, The Subdudes, a band with active ties to another legendary Big Easy roots band, The Radiators, and who opened for a number of other big acts here in Chicago back when I was actively going to concerts in the '80s and '90s. Haven't heard from them for a while, but a quick Wikipedia check informs me that they are still actively together and working.

Anonymous 12:17 AM  

I can't get with Rex's crabbiness on this one. The drinks on me are fine.

RCADOME lolwtf. Downs-only was a boon for avoiding that nonsense.

On the other hand, I put in itSAKEEPER, which made the LAUGH ANGLE nigh impossible to see. Downs-only giveth and downs-only taketh.

Anonymous 10:23 AM  

Ditto Rex’s comments.

spacecraft 10:56 AM  

In my copy the MEs were circled, so with the shaded squares above they looked like train cars. Circles AND shades, must we?

I knew right off that the revealer was going to be some variation of "Drinks are on me." When I got there and saw that "are" was missing, I predicted an OFNP rant about it. Bingo! I'm a great believer in sayings that are in-the-language, so on this one I side with the maestro. "ARE" needs to be there.

Weird that IKIDYOUNOT should appear (in syndication) on 4/1.

DOD stage is crowded today, with ANA, TYRA, the EMMAs--and even ROMA Downey. A tip o' the old space helmet to all of you. TYRA takes it.

While MOUTH could hardly be broken up, all the other theme parts ARE. Well done there. I like the long downs. Monday-easy; birdie.

Wordle par.

Burma Shave 12:58 PM  

HE’S NO KEEPER

NO, IKIDYOUNOT,
ISEE HER UNEASE,
BLAME this EERIE ROT:
JIM DRINKS when HE PEAS.

--- EMMA TUDOR

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