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Famed art patron Henry / WED 3-13-24 / Listing near a museum door, perhaps / N.B.A. great nicknamed "Diesel" / "O" in W.W. II radio lingo / Jeff Bridges's "Big Lebowski" stoner role, familiarly / Overhead features on sports cars / Literary character who cries "You're glumping the pond where the Humming-Fish hummed!" / Manhattan hoops venue, in brief
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Constructor: Drew Schmenner
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
Checked out of this one early. Very early. Right about here.
And then AGAPE in that same small corner? Nah. I don't have patience for a simple grid that is not filled more cleanly than that. Archaic song title partial + oldschool crosswordese + archaic quaint adjective ... you gotta try harder. A lot harder. This feels almost autofilled. The theme concept is fine, but it's Monday-level and ultimately kind of dull. I guess it's timely, in that March Madness starts later this month, but March Madness is frequently exciting and this ... was never that. The most "exciting" part was probably the (for me) never-not-an-adventure experience of trying to spell CHIWETEL EJIOFOR correctly. In fact, that's probably the one answer that definitively turns this would-be Monday puzzle into a Wednesday. I still think the cluing should've been eased up a little and this should've run on a Tuesday, at the latest, but shrug, it is what it is, and what it is is mainly a shrug. Disappointingly flat, for sure.
I don't know what I mean, Google. I'm sorry. As clued, RARED is definitely a form of "reared," which gives you a pretty significant dupe down there at the bottom of the grid, with REARS just a few columns over (55D: Derrières). ACH ADE ODE ETH ESTEE ENSLER ONEAL OLE INRE ETUDE SERTA ... this one was really struggling to keep its head above the crosswordese water, all grid long. For a theme this simple, you need a much more polished and lively grid than what you've got here.
- SEMAPHORE (18A: Flag-waver's specialty)
- MIXED METAPHOR (23A: "When the going gets tough, the early bird gets the worm?," e.g.)
- CHIWETEL EJIOFOR (38A: Best Actor nominee for "12 Years a Slave")
- AS NEVER BEFORE (50A: In an unprecedented manner)
Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor [...] (born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, and a Laurence Olivier Award, with nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards.
For 12 Years a Slave, Ejiofor received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations, along with the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. He was nominated for a 2014 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his performance on Dancing on the Edge. In 2022, he played the lead role in the Showtime science fiction television series The Man Who Fell to Earth. (wikipedia)
After enrolling at the National Youth Theatre in 1995 and attending the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, at age 19 and three months into his course, Ejiofor was cast by Steven Spielberg to play a supporting role in the film Amistad (1997) as James Covey. [...]
• • •
The puzzle appears to be "toughened" up, made Wednesday-worthy, but some truly awkward and occasionally inscrutable cluing. The DUO clue was bizarre (26A: What's needed for a "Who's on First?" routine), in that I just assume that the people doing the routine need something, not that ... the people themselves are needed. Also, I think one person could probably do both sides of that routine if they really wanted to, in which case you wouldn't really need a DUO at all. I also did not get the DONOR clue at all (33A: Listing near a museum door, perhaps), since "listing" made me think of a list (of multiple names?), and "museum door" evoked absolutely nothing for me. Like ... the front door? The door to a specific exhibit? The bathroom door? "Near a museum door" couldn't be more No Place if it tried. The whole museum feels like it's theoretically "near a museum door." The clue on SEA also doesn't work (44A: Whatever floats your boat!). It's trying for cute wordplay, but the clue says "Whatever" floats my boat, and the SEA is not "Whatever." It's a specific thing. Other bodies of water float boats, so the clue is invalid on its face. "Whatever," my eye. I didn't love [Web attachments?] for INSECTS, either—seemed a grim way to be wacky—but at least that one works on its surface (INSECTS do become "attached" to spiders' "webs"). ["Why are you in such a rush?"] completely fails to capture the tone and tenor of "SO SOON?" first by being a complete sentence (when "SO SOON?" is not), and then by being so painfully literal-minded and prying. There's no demand for an explanation in "SO SOON?" Also, "What are you in such a rush?" has no conversational bounce to it. Sounds like the interrogator is annoyed. Also, just because someone has to leave doesn't mean they're in a "rush." There's a reason "SO SOON?" (19 Shortz-Era appearances!) is overwhelmingly clued as ["Already?"] or ["Leaving already?"]. Those are spot-on. This clue, in trying to be "original" (I guess), just gums things up.
RARED? (53D: Stood on hind legs, with "up") RARED!? I refer you back to the first sentences of this write-up. I just can't believe the fill is so weak throughout. And isn't "RARED" just a folksy term for "reared"? Here's me searching [define rared]
Despite some sloggy cluing, there weren't any significant trouble spots today. Wrote in MIXED MESSAGES for that first themer (23A: "When the going gets tough, the early bird gets the worm?," e.g.) (a terrible example of MIXED METAPHOR, btw—the metaphor is supposed to be merely "mixed," not "intentionally and implausibly butchered for extremely low-level comedic effect"). I had some trouble getting G-FORCE (49D: Sensation on a roller coaster). Had the "G" and wanted a word that started with "G," as one might. Never considered the "G" might be a standalone letter. But none of these struggles were true struggles. Merely snags that I hit (32D), and then got past relatively quickly. Really hoping for a saucy Thursday puzzle tomorrow. Something with a little life in it, even if it ends up driving me nuts. Fingers crossed. See you then.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Additional notes:
MSG = Madison Square Garden Henry TATE = sugar magnate and eponym of a network of four London museums (including the TATE Modern)
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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85 comments:
Are they really mixed metaphors? Doesn’t seem so to me
I pretty much agree with @Rex. This was a Monday-on-Wednesday except for the totally unknown (to me) CHIWETEL EJIOFOR. When I failed to get the happy music, I looked it up only to find I'd spelled the name correctly entirely from crosses. My actual error was a simple typo, EiSLER instead of ENSLER at 46D. I must have had the N at some point because I remember putting in AS NEVER BEFORE.
"When the going gets tough, the earlybird gets the worm" is not a mixed metaphor. You'd need two metaphors for that. The first part is not a metaphor. It's just the literal thing that's happening.
Agree with Rex in every detail, except that at the bottom I HIT A wall.
On to Thursday! I’m rarin’ to go!
Was really hoping I didn’t make a typo in this one has I never heard of CHIWETEL EJIOFOR so was just taking it on faith and hoping for the best. I also think the clue for MIXED METAPHOR missed by a wide mark. Would have enjoyed it more if the theme answers were more “familiar” but trying to parse together the name of yet another actor that I have never heard of just wasn’t much fun.
Definitely a Tuesday puzzle, and definitely should have been swapped with yesterday's.
That stray FOR in GFORCE sticks out like a sore thumb, doesn’t it?
Jalen Pitre is the ultimate TEXAN. Born in Stafford TX. Played in college for Baylor. Now plays for the Houston Texans.
I usually log on to this blog when I’m really feeling annoyed by a puzzle, hoping OFL will have the same complaints!! 😂 It’s just so satisfying! 🙌 I had “hours” before “donors” for the museum door clue; but the one that really made my head spin was “raring” for “stood on hind legs”…ridiculous!! Have a good day everone!
Agree with everyone who has posted and everyone who will post that the actor's name is not familiar and can only be filled through crosses. Yikes.
Also agree with OFL re RARED. Come on man.
Mostly this puzzle reminds me that I am amazed that anyone can learn to spell in English. I liked that all FOURs had different spellings but do you know who to spell the F-O-R sound in Spanish? FOR. That's it, that's the list.
Kind of saw where this was going after METAPHOR and SEMAPHORE and appreciated that all the FOUR variants came last, but what a price was paid to achieve all that. I liked seeing old friend the LORAX and being rewarded for GFORCE, which explained the mysterious GF beginning, which I was sure was wrong.
Interesting in an orthographical sense, DS, but it Didn't Send me into the happyverse. Thanks for a medium amount of fun.
And now to get the unneeded all winter snow tires off the car.
Monday puzzle on Wednesday? Tsk tsk.
Thank you, Rex, for featuring Bettie Serveert covering The Carpenters. I consider myself the only person in the USA who totally adores this 30-year-old, one-hit wonder!
I, if briefly, considered celebrating my 65th birthday with a trip to Holland to see them play Palomine start to finish. I decided be ause I no longer enjoy the live music experience.
Thanks again!
I was worried I didn’t understand what a mixed metaphor really was until I came here and saw others saying that’s definitely not an example of a mixed metaphor.
Agree about rared - if you’re going to have that version of “reared” then you have to clue it as “slangily” or something.
stOMP before TROMP was my one holdup, but it wasn’t long before I figured it out.
Fastest Wednesday time yet.
The big guy nailed it today. Temporal theme and cute enough but so oddly filled and clunky that as easy as it was it never felt smooth working it. Had to back into most of the actor’s name. LORAX and literary was lost on me.
The AULD Triangle
A lot of old crosswordese. I liked TROMP x SAPPHO and VROOM.
Slight letdown for a Wednesday morning solve.
That was the river
I'd be interested in knowing how many solvers were able to spell CHIWETELEJIOFOR without using any crosses. When I filled in the letters I was dumbfounded to hear the music.
The theme was helpful to the extent of giving me SEMAPHORE, a word I was unfamiliar with.
Vivat @REX!
I thought of MALAPHOR before MIXED METAPHOR
Hey All !
Liked it for the F-ness factor. I'll even take the PH as an F sound.
Easy peasy WedsPuz. I even knew how to spell CHIWETEL EJIOFOR (having a good chunk of letters in...) He is a good actor in quite a lot of movies.
Fill OK. Nothing to write home about, but all real things. THE DUDE always fun to see. "It really tied the room together." Har.
Happy Wednesday.
Four F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Mostly on board with Rex today. This seemed a little vanilla except in one or two places and could’ve easily swapped with yesterday. Agree DONOR was oddly clued (I had HOURS.) and don’t think MOONROOFS are restricted to sports cars any more. CHIWETEL was a lovely center spanner which I now know how to spell and pronounce.
The puzzle had some nice moments - SEMAPHORE, METAPHOR, SAPPHO, GFORCE - but I would’ve really loved a whole March Madness theme. Just saying.
Took me forever (well, a minute or two) to get the south because I didn’t even try RARED, thinking it was designed to make you think reared as a trap of some sort. Even erased SERTA which was obviously going to be right. Eventually I tried it and all was good but it felt bad.
Monday-Tuesday here. Only slow point was some guy called Diesel? I've heard of Vin Diesel and that exhausts my diesel knowledge. When it turned out to be ONEAL I thought, "oh." Just that.
Theme was silly and super easy. Maybe good for newer solvers...
But I did like the shout out to OFL (previous post).
I have to agree with Rex here. “Rared”? I say nay or is it neigh?
Welp. I agree this was more Monday but for my gaffe with 30D…”goes” instead of ACTS and my inability to remember CHIWETEL even though I know who he is. This left me pretty screwed up in the middle west side and I didn’t know ACH was a German form of “darn.” Still, the puzzle was enjoyable enough with a pretty good and timely theme of FINALFOUR.
Um, I searched “mixed metaphor examples” after looking at the negative comments. Guess what? One of the first sites (Mastersclass) listed, “when the going gets tough, the early bird gets the worm.”
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR. For those of you who do not like sports references: I don’t watch movies— at all. So, I think it is fair to say that there has not been a single sports answers to a clue as difficult as CHIWETEL EJIOFOR. The one thing I admire about the puzzle is I was able to nail the name because of the downs. Struggled with rared and the same issues as the other solvers. But , since I could not create a puzzle , I have to say Kudos to the constructor who created this puzzle and to all of these on this blog who have the ability.
Rex is right - solos can act as DUOs.
As evidenced by Tiny Tim’s classic I Got You Babe on Ed Sullivan…
Dueling Duet for One Tiny Tim
I think a better clue than mixed metaphor would have been Yogi Berraism
I could have had any letter of the alphabet placed incorrectly in CHIWETELEJIOFOR and it would look just as wrong and unparsable. ZHIWETE LEJIOFOR? Sure, why not. No disrespect meant to CHIWETELEJIOFOR. It's a perfectly cromulent name.
Some people are always trying to make a federal case out of a molehill (to mix a metaphor)
It's an example of a malaphorism, which is not mixed metaphors. Poor editing.
That was my first long answer entered without any crosses. But I’m also a film buff with a challenging name to spell, so I pay close attention to how people spell their names. Knew it cold.
Here's a surprise, last time CHIWETEL EJIOFOR appeared in the puzzle, I struggled to spell his name, and after 46 years of being alive, so does he. His full name is Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor. His mom probably got some cross looks in the maternity ward when filling out his birth certificate. The people putting the credits on the end of movies charge extra when he's in the cast.
I knew this day would arrive and I am sorta sad about it. You know how people think you hafta be smart to do this puzzle, but you know in your soul it's really about the crosses and not the wisdom? It's our dirty little secret. Well, except on Friday and Saturday when it's about whether or not you watch all of the shows on all of the streaming services and memorized all of the C-list starlets. Today I flew through the puzzle and knew so little and I realize I am better at "the game" than I am at the content making up the game. I can't believe how off the cluing feels and how many words I didn't know and still whoosh. It's sad. I don't need to look anything up, so by the time the next puzzle gets here tonight I will be dummer on account of forgetting what I once knew.
On an unrelated topic, I've been driving a Mini Cooper for the last ten years. It has a turbo and is my favorite car ever except when you take it to the shop. Here's a partial list is shocking numbers: Oil pan gasket $850. Front headlight $650. Oil change $300. Spark plugs and fuel service $350. One bad knob on the dashboard required replacing the entire dashboard $4000. When they tell you these numbers, you feel like a woman in those movies where she's in a small town repair shop and two dirty guys chewing cigars tell her she needs a Reverse Framiss valve for some crazy price except this is a major multinational company selling me weird parts I've never heard of to turn off the check engine light. And I once liked fiddling with cars. No longer. The latest list of all recommended repairs is $11,000. Car's trade-in value $3300. So I ordered a Toyota Corolla. Sigh. I give up.
Also, we're getting a foot of snow in Denver starting today and three up on the hill.
Tee-Hee: RUMPS for REARS on DERRIÈRES. As my dementia advances I hope the last word I ever utter is "butt." My brain is awash with so much ARSE-NESS thanks to my friend at the NYTXW. Luv U Buddy.
Uniclues:
1 Chips and dip.
2 He ran out of mustache wax.
3 Vagina enthusiast's husband.
4 Polynesian crossword critic posted.
5 Paints door frame pink.
6 Poetic lady's painted ladies.
1 FINAL FOUR TREAT
2 LORAX HITS A SNAG
3 THE DUDE ENSLER
4 SAMOA REX RARED
5 AMPS JAMB
6 SAPPHO INSECTS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Young brainiac's drawing of a yellow representation of the Pythagorean Theorem in the snow. WHIZ KID PEE ART.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What would you have if the themer answers were:
SEMA
MIXEDMETA
CHIWETELEJIO
ASNEVERBE
?
(Answer below)
I think the GFORCE is what, when applied to the G Spot, results in a Big O. (I'll be right back. I'm feeling the P Force and need to relieve myself.....)
(5 minutes later) Aaaaaah! I'm back.
Student: I wish you could professionally demonstrate an appropriate practice piece for becoming a concert pianist.
Mozart: I believe I have an apt ETUDE for that line of work.
I'm pretty sure that this puzzle was constructed with a lot of forethought. Thanks, Drew Schmenner.
(Answer)
Four gone conclusions.
Just remembered a choir nerd T-Shirt:
Never B#
Never Bb
Always B Natural!
Not much to say about today.
SERTA/SEALY KEALOA problem today solved by using one to clue the other.
I looked down and saw that REARED didn't fit, then forgot about it after it filled in with crosses.
Some kind of all-time record for best crosses for every letter in CHIWETELEJIOFOR.
An alternate clue for 38A: "A jumble of improbable letters comprising a name that you've seen before and that is indeed worthy of being known, only you DON'T know it -- and not only didn't you know it today, but you won't know it tomorrow either, so don't worry your pretty little head about it."
Ah yes, the rest of the puzzle. Nicely chosen themers in a nicely conceived puzzle with a very nice revealer. By far the hardest clue for me was "Sensation on a roller coaster." Nothing I wanted there fit: not TERROR, not NAUSEA, not VERTIGO, not PANIC. I've never been on on a roller coaster, so I've never experienced a GFORCE -- and that's the way I intend to leave it.
A pleasant puzzle with the CHIW guy fairly crossed, thank heavens.
Well, I'd say Rex certainly gave this puzzle the what for.
I never thought AFEW equates to several. Several ia much more than a few, IMO. Anyone do the mini? 1 D... WTH?
Why, where and how is a flag waver's specialty a SEMAPHORE......A SEMAPHORE? I looked it up and it tells me that it's a variable data type.
I got/get that you're going FOR four ways to spell/sound like things I don't know/can't spell. I'm looking at 38A and wondered if his nickname is CHI. It didn't help that I had that Big Lebowski dude as being THE DUCK or that COLOR is the listing by a museum door or that "inter webs" is NET. A big mess; not fun... and it gave me angst, agita and dyspepsia.
SNORT and RARED...SO SOON? I'm going to VROOM outahere.
I wanted 26A: "What's needed for a "Who's on First?" routine" to be Bud, as in Bud Abbott.
I feel like I've always heard "OSCAR" in WW2 radio lingo? Or is that a modern change and I'm getting mixed up?
@Alice Pollard - that 1D from today's mini has appeared in the regular puzzle in the past. The constructor notes for that day say "The foundation for this grid was [that word]".
this was fine for me. Yes, it was easy. The clues were okay. GForce was not part of the "fours." I usually only check-in here when I have a lot of gripes and want to be validated. Today it was only for the cultural tidbits. "Rared" is common in my neck of the woods.
Jim
28 down OBOE is a nice musical instrument, but it isn't in the radio code alphabet for O.... OSCAR is. Similarly, Full Diva (58 down) is mostly referred to as Full Tilt Diva.
Would like to see original puzzle as submitted to see the editing shenanigans to even remotely justify running this on a Wed. Constructor even notes he thought it would run on Mon/Tue.
This grid, like yesterday's, has 38 black squares with four themers and a reveal. That usually guarantees there's going to be some less than optimal adhesive fill to hold it all together. Today the glue ahead alert is even more ominous with the 59 theme squares vs yesterday's more modest 43.
Given those constraints, I'd have to say the fill was not all that bad. Yeah, the upper left, for example, does have some SNORT worthy fill but look at what 1, 2 and 3 Down have to contend with. They have to be five letter entries that end in M, I and X and all five Downs in that corner pass through the first themer, MIXED METHAPHOR. And one of those, 14 Down, passes through two themers. Given those hurdles I'd say stuff like UNAGI, LORAX and THE DUDE looks pretty good. I'm not even aghast at AGAPE. And so on through the rest of the grid.
In the Navy signalmen did one kind of ship to ship visual communication using two SEMAPHORE flags held in rapidly changing positions for letters and numbers. They were nicknamed "skivvy wavers", skivvy or skivvies being slang for underwear.
We experience G FORCE not only just on a roller coaster, as clued, but all the time. Otherwise the centrifugal FORCE of the spinning Earth would fling us into space.
The middle righthand section reminded of P.D.Q. Bach's "Concerto for Bassoon, SOSOON and OBOE", aka "The OSLO LOBO".
Yes, I did make this morning's coffee extra strong.
Time and again when I read this blog I think of the Dude's iconic line "Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man".
Gill I - In old-timey days, back when horses RARED up on their hind legs gad-dummit, communications between ships at sea were done via SEMAPHORE. The sender has two flags, which are placed at some pair of 6:00, 7:30, 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, 1:30, 3:00, 4:30. IIRC, A is both flags at 6:00, B might be one at 6:00, one at 7:30. Someone on the other ship would be watching, and replying by the same method. Now they just use WhatsAPP.
I was sure there'd be a comment about the inane double-cluing at 1D and 31D which led to a bad clue on 31D: "CHAI" is not a "variety of Indian tea," as it literally means "tea" in Hindi. Although "CHAI" is used as a shorthand to refer to masala chai (lit. spiced tea), which is the CHAI we know and love here in the good ol' US of A, it's kind of like saying "vin" is a "variety of French wine" or "pollo" is a "variety of Mexican chicken." It's just... not.
I’m sure Hopalong Cassidy was ‘raring to go’. Or at least Smiley Burnett, Gene Autry, Roy Roger’s, etc… I’m always stumped by the ‘lead singer for Nine Inch Nails - type clue.
Brilliant! You don't disappoint!!!
To the Constructor: You ARE kidding me with
CHIWETELEJIOFOR right?
A bit surpised that many commenters here have not heard of Chiwetel Ejiofor. Having difficulties spelling his name, that‘s understandable. But he is an accomplished and famous actor. I guess as a European I just imagined that „12 Years a Slave“ with all its historical weight was a big thing in the US, but maybe I‘m wrong and not as many crossword solvers have seen it. I know I have committed Mr. Ejiofor‘s name to my memory as a bona fide star after seeing this movie.
Easy-medium mostly because, like for most of you, spelling the actor’s was guess work and as a result I held on to Roi before REX too long. The rest went pretty quickly.
Liked it more than @Rex did but he makes some valid points.
Rared made me unreasonably upset. It’s not a word just because they say it wrong in the south. Might as well have “What you do with the dishes” with the answer as WARSH.
I had "hours" for listing near a museum door. Seems quite obvious to me. You find plaques with single donor names on some museums, or, if rich enough, their name IS the museum name (um... like "Tate"?).
There were more than "a few" problems with this puzzle. One might say there were "several" of them.
During WWII, we used the CCB alphabet, which used OBOE rather than 'oscar', whenever communicating with allied forces. From 1943-45, OBOE was also used by the US Army for communicaiton within the service, and in joint communication between US Army and US Navy.
CHIWETELEJIOFOR/HITSASNAG. Kinda apt crossin; M&A can barely spell BRADPITT.
staff weeject pick: ETH. As in: ETH an Allen. Nice weeject stack, at puzgrid central, btw.
Yep. M&A votes for DONORs list, to allow to get anywheres near my museum door.
fave thing: THEDUDE. It abides well.
Thanx 4 the March Madness, Mr. Schmenner dude.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
Am I the only one perturbed by chai? Chai is NOT a variety of tea in the same sense as 1-down. Chai is a method of preparing typically black varieties of tea such as assam. But then, when you don’t know your mixed metaphor from a hole in the ground…
CHIWETELE looked familiar, and indeed he has been in the puzzle before: Sunday June 18 2022.
On the roller coaster I wanted VERTIGO, then I wanted ZERO G and I can't imagine why I didn't think of its opposite.
[Spelling Bee: yd currently -1, missing a 9er!!]]
Absolutely! Chai IS tea, not a variety
Correction: today’s write-up of the puzzle says that Henry Tate
was the eponym of “four London museums”, and it provides a
link to a Wikipedia page that supposedly supports that
statement. As the Wikipedia page correctly reports, the
Tate is a network of four museums, only two of which
(Tate Britain and Tate Modern) are in London, while a
third is in Liverpool and a fourth is in St Ives, Cornwall.
Disappointingly easy Wednesday. Could have been an OK Tuesday or a fun Monday.
Woof. Yet another bad puzzle this week. This week is on a real streak.
Easy one. Nothing fancy. What would crossword designers do without the city of Oslo?
I like to think REX as an answer for “king” dead center in the puzzle was a tribute to ofl
To Anonymous @ 4:29 They would all move to ACCRA.
I would agree with Rex that it's easy to critique the fill, but . . . . .
1. Such a timely puzzle, with FINALFOUR just a week away (Go Blue Devils!)
2. With each themer spelling out the phonetic "4" is a different manner - - - borderline genius. So under these circumstances, the fill is bound to be subordinate to the theme, and I'm perfectly ok with that.
Dave Saltzman
About oboe
The clue said in WW Ii not now
Old Salt
When a fleet was on radio silence in WW Ii I have read they used semaphores on occasion.
To those who complained
To me the puzzle clue is classic example of a mixed metaphor. Parts of two metaphors that are sewn together. Mrs. Malaprop was a character in a Restoration comedy who famously used the wrong WORD on many occasion, trying to appear more sophisticated than she was. Don’t see the connection to the clue here.
I thought it was fine
I am only commenting to be inducted into the noble order of the crossword hussies
“Borderline genius”?! 🥴
Can someone explain 'NET' for '"INTERWEB"' ? Feel like I must be missing something obvious!
@Dave
InterNET.
Am I the only one to believe “several” does not equate to “a few”? (57 down) ? That just seems totally wrong to me, or am I missing something? I always thought a few was less than five, several was more than five.
@JC66
Huh? Yes, I know there is an internet - it was invented by AL Gore some years ago. It is sometimes referred to as "The WEB" I believe.
But what in "INTERWEB" as a clue indicates that the answer is NET????
@Dave
Did you Google INTERWEB?
Still waiting for mention of the most famous semaphore of all, the Semaphore Wuthering Heights on Monty Python.
AULD doesn't bother me -- that song feels more evergreen than archaic -- nor does ASSAM. AGAPE is always a downer, though. But I'll agree the fill didn't pick up much sparkle.
Maybe I was just put in a good mood by spelling CHIWETEL EJIOFOR correctly on the first attempt. That may have also contributed to how easy this felt (5s off my fastest Wednesday time). Otherwise fairly forgettable, though.
Another issue with the clueing—"G FORCE" is not a "sensation," anymore than gravity (the "G" in question) is a "sensation." G FORCEs may be the cause of a sensation, but are not the sensation itself.
I am with you. I wondered if it was just me.
I had never heard the actor's name, but this puzzle gave me happy memories of going to the TATE Gallery in London with my Nigerian roommate (whose name started in CHI and ended in OFOR). I realize today that Americans watch the ball drop in Times Square, and that at no point in that ceremony do they hold hands and sing AULD Lang Syne.
I rate this one C for Crapola. What a pile of rubbish!
I have to side with OFNP on this one. The center name was a nightmare FOR me; I needed every. Single. Cross. So yeah, I HIT fifteen SNAGs.
Do we really need TWO Indian teas? (make that 17).
Learned: OSLO's lakes & islands. And that 38a DUDE.
Theme defect: the FOR in GFORCE. Didn't like the letter add-on anyway.
Cumbersome to slog through, and not worth it. Bogey.
Wordle birdie. Proud of this one. Stared at it for ten minutes trying to satisfy my first two guesses but came up with the winner.
FINAL ALERT
DUDE, SARAH took ATONE with me,
we HITASNAG MOOT INSECTS BEFORE.
Her SISTER NORA said, "Let's SEA,
SO ACT like we NEVER METAPHOR."
--- NED O'NEAL
"Chai" is the Persian word for tea, so when you say chai tea, you're actually saying tea tea. I prefer to have two teaspoons of shakar sugar in my chai tea.
done in again by a name doncha know
Lady Di
No writeovers here but that gridspanner, oof and oof. Whatever ELSE I have to say is probably MOOT.
Wordle birdie.
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