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Loose-fitting garment / SUN 3-3-24 / Tree with "eyes" on its bark / High times for the petroleum industry / French desserts whose name translates as "small ovens" / Chinese dish eponym / It can be written in scripts known as naskh and ruq'ah / Hush-hush pacts, in brief / Borough of New Jersey noted for its indoor shopping malls
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Constructor: Hoang-Kim Vu
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers: (RED letters run Down)
- 1A: Loose-fitting garment (TENT DRESS)
- 24A: It might help you keep up with old classmates (ALUMNI NEWSLETTER)
- 30A: Carrier of goods by rail (FREIGHT TRAIN)
- 47A: Stop on a publicity tour (PRESS EVENT)
- 61A: Chosen name of five popes (SIXTUS)
- 71A: Break for a bit (TAKE FIVE)
- 80A: French desserts whose name Translates as "small ovens" (PETIT FOURS)
- 108A: Concern at the end of a space journey (EARTH REENTRY)
- 115A: "Take it easy once in a while!" ("DON'T WORK TOO HARD")
- 118A: Sonny and Fredo, for two (CORLEONES)
Sandra Lee Christiansen (née Waldroop; born July 3, 1966), known professionally as Sandra Lee, is an American television chef and author. She is known for her "Semi-Homemade" cooking concept, which Lee describes as using 70 percent packaged and 30 percent fresh products. She received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Show Host in 2012 for her work and her show. As the partner of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, she served as the de facto First Lady Of New Yorkfrom 2011 to 2019, when the couple ended their relationship. (wikipedia)
• • •
[35A: Haim of "Licorice Pizza" (ALANA)]
There's one notable issue with the theme execution, but it's a problem that was quite possibly unavoidably—namely, that all the numbers from TEN to ONE are well and truly hidden inside their respective answers. That is, TEN does not appear as the number TEN, but as the letter string T-E-N, and all the other numbers do likewise ... except FIVE. FIVE just cannot hide. It appears as itself, in the answer TAKE FIVE. It's a tribute to how well, how cleverly the other numbers are hidden, that the FIVE stands out so glaringly. Like, "hi, I'm FIVE, sorry, I don't know how to hide inside other answers, just pretend I'm not here." But what longer answer could possibly contain the letter string "F-I-V-E"? SCIFI VENTURE? WIFI VENDOR? "... IF I'VE EVER SEEN ONE"? That last one is at least a phrase people say. But my point is, there are next to no options. So ... TAKE FIVE.
There were some awkward moments while solving this, most notably ... SIXTUS!!? Five popes actually chose that name, and I've heard of precisely none of them? Wow. I really (really really) wanted the answer to be SEXTUS, which sounds so much more popey, but SEX is not a number (well, it is, in Latin, it's "six," but ... it's not one of *our* numbers). So that was awkward because it was arcane. Then there was TINDERS, which was awkward because it was an Improbable Plural (71D: Birch bark and pine cones, e.g.). And then ASPIRER, awkward because no way, not a thing, please stop (111A: Ambitious sort). And something about STOLEN ART feels kind of "green-paint"-y to me.* You could put anything after STOLEN and kinda sorta justify it, but STOLEN ART doesn't quite feel strong enough to stand alone. Mostly, though, I thought the fill held up just fine, especially considering the fairly demanding theme.
The cluing felt sufficiently difficult for a Sunday. Despite the theme's revealing too much of itself too quickly, the grid still had some resistance to offer. Something about the phrasing of the clue on COW POX made it hard for me—I think it's the "used it" bit (11D: Edward Jenner used it when developing the world's first successful vaccine). Accurate enough, I'm sure, but I'm not used to think of viruses being "used." I had to go through both REAIR and RERUN before I got to RERAN (31D: Put on the air again) (really should've noticed that "air" was in the clue and so couldn't be in the answer). Had "UH, NO" before "UM, NO" (19D: "Yeah ... pass"). No idea who SANDRA LEE is, despite the fact that she was apparently First Lady of my state from 2011 to 2019 (!?!?!). SANDRA DEE and SARA LEE, them I know, but SANDRA LEE—this is the first I'm hearing of her. I had SEETHES before SEES RED (129A: Rages). I wish I had more interesting errors. Sorry.
A reminder that the Boswords Spring Themeless League starts this week, with Puzzle #1 dropping tomorrow, Monday, Mar. 4! There are three different difficulty levels so if you're crossword competition curious, why not give it a go? Here's League coordinator John Lieb with the deets:
Registration for the Boswords 2024 Spring Themeless League is open! This weekly event in March and April features weekly themeless puzzles -- clued at three levels of difficulty -- from an all-star roster of constructors and are edited by Brad Wilber. To register, to watch a short video about the league, to view the constructor line-up, and to learn more, go to www.boswords.org.Also out this week:
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*"green paint" is a term for an answer you can imagine someone saying, but that doesn't seem strong enough to qualify as a standalone crossword entry
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112 comments:
On the easy side of medium for me too. I caught the theme at SEVEN and the rest was a mostly breezy solve.
WOEs: ALANA, NENEH, and OCTAVIO.
OK Sunday, liked it but @Rex is right about ASPIRES and TINDERS.
I concur with Rex's assessment. Here's mine:
I'll award this week's Sunday xword for out of five stars. It was workable, and an ambitious construction feat (though the THREE seemed out of place to me). Can't give it five stars because 1) The theme lacked humor and 2) though I guessed the right answer, there was a natick at ALBEE/NENEH. ALBEy and NyNEH are nearly as plausible, and my sympathy to anyone who went that route. A TV DRESS is a thing? Sounds terribly decadent. I 'll work as hard as I can to unlearn that bit of pop culture, now that I' ve had to correctly guess it...
After reading Rex's review, I realized I had an error after all (sigh). RERuN is a perfectly acceptable answer for the clue in 31D. I was so sure of it that it did not occur to me to question the resulting RuH going across... I just figured it was some kind of military grunt that when repeated meant to the knowing soldier an enthusiastic expletive, gung ho being a military expression originally. My bad...
It's great when the title promises a countdown, and damned if the grid doesn't deliver one. In order from TEN down to ONE, and if ONE had been the very last down answer, that would have been even better. Sundays always seem a slog to me, and if the theme delivers, that helps a lot.
Oddly, before noticing the theminess of 25 down, for 24 across I had ALUMNUS LETTER which led me to believe Edward Jenner used a COUPON to develop the first vaccine. Say, what?
Hands up for SANDRA DEE! Didn't know she was a chef.
[Spelling Bee: Sat 0, Fri -1 missing this 7er.]
First off, my thoughts go to @Gary Jugert. While @Roo and @Pablo are constantly high fiving each other remotely to acknowledge that some perversion of their moniker made the puzzle, @Gary J has just plugged along with his SLUSHPILE -related comments not garnering even a TeeHe from the commentariat. Well, @Gary Jugert, I pronounce you King for a Day on this Third of March as the SLUSHPILE today sits proudly front and center of the World's Greatest Collection of Black and White Squares. I hope you provide an even deeper than usual psycho-interpretation of the junior editors who undoubtedly had to slip Will Shortz a Mickey to get this printed.
Agree with @Rex on how the theme is almost immediately apparent and then allows a ton of filling in squares without needing to think. OTOH, it is a good theme and executed very well. So thanks, Hoang-Kim Vu.
PARAMUS! I live one town over. The indoor malls are hurting economically these days. Paramus Park Mall is just about vacant
I don’t understand DONTRKTOOHARD
Easy-medium except for one section in the ENE where ALANA Haim (35A), EXACTO (40A), APPOSE (41D) and OCTAVIO (59A) conspired to leave a bunch of blank squares for a very long time.
Only major overwrite was at 115A, DON'[T WO]RK TOO much.
NENEH (114A) was a WOE.
I may have heard of PARAMUS at some point, but certainly didn’t click while solving, so that “U” cross with the Popes, was a running of the vowels.
Same RERuN and UhNO errors.
Thought the theme entries were ok, outside of THREE and SIX. Just don’t think many people are tacking on EARTH to REENTRY. It’s just REENTRY or some phrase including “atmosphere”. And for SIX, well I guess we likely just have to live with SIXTUS, but that’s as obscure as it gets.
An ok Sunday overall.
Well, it's not so often that I fill in the themers and use them to figure something out. But, as @Rex said, IYKYK and then you plunk them in to clarify the acrosses, specifically TEN-TDRESS. Not much on dresses but when I have to it definitely won't be one of those. I'm almost at the point of my friend who said, If a dress is required I'm out.
I thought it should have been DONTWORKsoHARD, which makes more sense in the context of the clue, which is a specific thing said to a specific person, rather than DONTWORKTOOHARD which is a more general admonishment.
Debated between ONEgin and ONEILL for a hot sec before play*wright* slapped me upside the head, sheesh. But fwiw I can quote, in Russian, the opening lines of Evgeny Onegin...
Overall it was pretty easy, less than half an hour. Fun stuff.
The trick does make this more fun than recent Sundays - but the overall fill quality suffers in the large grid - would have been better off pared down to Thursday size. It dropped quick and allowed the descending numbers to go right in - too many gimmes. DONT WORK TOO HARD indeed.
Humble Pie
Some completely inane and unknown trivia that had to be backed into. COW POX? the EXACTO x APPOSE x OCTAVIO cross is a doozy and no idea on SANDRA LEE. Ugly 3s all over this grid - LGS, YAT, ISR etc make for a quick but clunky time.
I like the idea - just not enough to support the Sunday sized grid and definitely not backed up by the fill.
TAKE FIVE
@Ken Freeland, 12:35 AM: I had RUH (as in "RUH RUH!!!") too!
I have to agree with Rex on this one, regarding the theme. TAKEFIVE seemed a bit off compared with the others, and I couldn't put my finger on it until I read Rex's write-up. One needed something else with FIVE embedded within, perhaps:
HAWAIIFO
......I
......V
......E
Life is full of odd coincidences. A few days ago, my wife and I were *just* talking about Paramus and the big mall and Sunday Blue Laws and such, as we were driving along the Garden State Parkway. So, that was the first answer placed.
Happy (belated) New Month, everyone!
It's TENT DRESS.
I’d like to meet Pope STU!
Solving on the app, you don’t see the Sunday puzzle’s title unless you go looking for it. I usually don’t, and today I’m glad I didn’t because it would have given away the trick too early. I went through the puzzle ignoring the “-“ clues and filling in what I could on the across answers they were attached to. Then I went back to the top. No idea on the dress, but ALUMNI NEWSLETTER seemed obvious. First I tried to make NEWS go down off the N but that wasn’t working so I put in NINE. Then when I went to the next one, FREIGHT TRAIN seemed obvious. Went back to the very first one and saw that TENT DRESS would work. Only then I looked at the title and confirmed the theme.
I would have loved to see LIFTOFF as the last across answer. It doesn’t have an E, so the ONE would have to go somewhere else.
Liked the clue for SALLIE MAE.
Oh, how I loved the simplicity of sports on TV in the early 1960s. One of my favorites was Make That Spare, broadcast live from the Paramus Bowling Alley. Hoang-Kim Vu did a good job, but with 34-down, he missed an opportunity to make the old timers among us smile.
Love that Pines crosses with Aspen
Check Your ALUMNI NEWSLETTER and you will find that you may belong to a CREW or a Rowing TEAM, but you may not be a part of a (redundant) CREW TEAM.
In addition to the mall, PARAMUS (34D) is home to many cemeteries. My parents are buried there. (My mom wanted to be near the shopping.)
My dad died several years before my mom (may they both rest in peace), and his stone naturally sank into the ground a bit over the years. So when my brother and I went to see my mom's new stone years later, it stood higher than my dad's. I remember saying to my brother: I don't recall Mom being taller than Dad.
Sixtus IV is the only pope of that name I had heard of, because he commissioned a Vatican chapel later named for him. Pope Julius II, who later asked Michelangelo to add some paintings to that chapel, was his nephew. I gather the name was Greek in origin and had nothing to do with the numeral six. Fun puzzle!
My fill-in method is to work the crosses resulting from words I’ve filled in. This takes me all over the grid in a chicken-scratch manner.
So, at puzzle’s end, I understood the COUNTDOWN theme’s component of numbers dropping downward (and the little trick they were involved with), but the second component – that they counted down from 10 to one – well, I never saw that.
That is, until I saw the completed grid in XwordInfo (before coming here), where the theme numbers are highlighted, and boom! It became immediately clear how the numbers counted down, a very “Oh that is uber cool” moment, lifting the puzzle from fairly ordinary to very special. Suddenly I realized the skill that went into making this puzzle, on top of the brilliance behind the double-play on “COUNTDOWN”, bringing a whole new layer of appreciation.
That was an OMG moment, and now I’m in love with the theme and filled with respect for your expertise, Hoang-Kim. You are a beast, and thank you so much for making this!
@ Okanaganer (12;54am) "Oddly, before noticing the theminess of 25 down, for 24 across I had ALUMNUS LETTER which led me to believe Edward Jenner used a COUPON to develop the first vaccine. Say, what?"
I did the same thing, imagining Edward Jenner sitting in is lab clipping coupons from Virologists' Weekly.
You’ve got fill like ERITREA, REDCAP, MĀORIS, TINDERS, ASPIRERS . . . Can you blame that all on the constraints imposed by the theme ? If so, the trade off is not worth it. Tough to construct, I understand that. But like Rex said, once you get the gimmick (which was handed to you in the title) you can fill in the numbers and are just left to slog through the rest of it. It got old kind of quick for me. Hopefully there are a bunch of people who loved it, because it obviously took a lot of work.
LOL I also had ALUMNUS and wondered how the heck the COUPON fit in.
NerdNotes:
10 – Number of letters in the constructor’s name; number of NYT puzzles he’s made.
9 – Fill-in-the-blank clues.
8 – Answers with double-E’s.
7 – Number of letters in the theme-echo answer (NUMERAL).
6 – Multisyllabic long-O enders (PHONO, EXACTO, OCTAVIO, SOLO, NERO, UMNO).
5 – Animals (OWLET, CROC, COWpox, COB, EMUS ).
4 – Vowel-less answers (PJS, STD, LGS, SLR)
3 – Unabbreviated geographical locations (ERITRREA, ASPEN, PARAMUS)
2 – Letter shy of a pangram (Q, Z).
1 – Palindrome (ELLE).
0 – Number of answers, aside from the theme answers, that had a number embedded, an elegant touch.
Dontworktoohard...put the two in there
You need to read it with the TWO comint down from the T - so DONT WORK TOO HARD.
I had GOTME not GOTYA which set up two proper names I didn't know: Alena and Mat instead of Alana and Yat. Seemed ok.
That’s part of the theme - DON(TWO)RKTOOHARD
I thought was FOUR not hidden in PETIT FOUR either, though it doesn’t mean the number four in the French, so that’s something.
Today I noticed AVIAS vs ASICS is another one for the kealoa pile.
Most Sundays barely hold my interest, or don't at all hold my interest, to the end. This one did. Started out thinking a TT Dress was something I just hadn't heard of and then threw in Alumni Reunion and kept moving. Not a promising start. But eventually the flickering incandescent in my brain lit up, I saw numbers and then Snippets of words.
Lots of good stuff in there. Plows and Tattoos and Kahlua. Merlin meets Sandra Lee. Fun.
When Charles Deber did this theme (with the same title) in 1998, he solved the FIVE problem with HIFI VENDORS crossing AMALFI VESSEL. (His puzzle hid the numbers in both directions.)
@egs-I filled in SLUSHPILE and immediately had the same reaction. Names are one thing but having your unique description or stuff on an editor's desk appear rises to a whole new level. My congrats to @Gary Jugert on this signal achievement. We are not worthy.
Caught on at the FR(EIGHT)TRAIN answer and that was a big help. Not too many unknowns, although a four-letter band starting with A can always be ABBA or ACDC.
Knew ELLE instantly, as we went to an all-star high school production of Legally Blonde last night. The show would have been fine, but we were seated in front of the Teenage Female Loud Laugh Track section of the audience, which necessitated leaving at half time. I mean, really.
Impressive Sunday construction, HKV. Happily Knew Various answers without much thought,, and thanks for all the fun.
Only two unknowns today: SANDRA LEE and PARAMUS.
Are either of those things people know?
I know from pub trivia nights that TV chefs are a weakness for me. I know Julia Child and Graham Kerr, and thanks to crosswords Ina Garten. Other people seem to know dozens of them.
And I know the five boroughs of NY, but could not name another borough anywhere. Google says PARAMUS has a population of about 26k, which seems awfully small to be crossworthy.
Just to clarify, this is the Sistine Chapel, which I'm sure Rex has heard of, even if he's never heard of a Pope Sixtus. Sistine is the adjective form of Sixtus.
Old tv jingle came to mind.
Everybody doesn’t know something,
But nobody seems to know SANDRA LEE!
Nobody Doesn’t Like Sara Lee
An achievement of a puzzle but even with my new use of Autocheck, it looked off. Thought ALUMNWS was some nonsensically inclusive neologism before I saw the number trick. Still looks wrong but “if the letter’s in blue*, it will have to do.”
* Autocheck puts correct answers in blue and a red slash through misses…
I agree with Rex: solid workmanlike puzzle, a few standouts, and nothing glaringly bad.
I was waiting for the classic RP blog trope -"why these numbers?". I didn't notice they went down in order, d'oh. Glad I didn't read the title of the puzzle, it posed a little extra challenge.
I think STOLENART passes the green paint test. The only reason we've heard of the Mona Lisa is because of the fame it acquired after being stolen from the Louvre. The Gardner Museum of Boston unsolved robbery is infamous. Also, all the antiquities in major Western museums are being reclassified as stolen art and forcibly returned to their countries of origin.
@Joe Dipinto - loved your Will Shortz type clue for Natan (aka Satan) Last late yesterday!
Many celebrations on March 3, running from the wonderful (World Wildlife Day) to the inexplicable (If Pets Had Opposable Thumbs Day). I’ll focus on Finisher’s Medal Day, described as follows: “Finisher's Medal Day…recognizes the long hours, days, weeks and even months of training thousands of men and women across the country have put in to achieve their goals of completing a race. Most…are everyday working people who train before or after work, after caring for their families and keeping their other commitments. Some have been athletes all their lives. Others are just starting out and want to see if they can do it. Many are amputees and are regaining some of what was taken from them. There are those who train as a team and those for whom this challenge is a one-person mission. Finisher's Medal Day recognizes each of them who crosses the line. Whether they cross it once or many times, earning that medal is a lifetime achievement.”
I didn’t find this puzzle such a pushover, probably because it took me an extended period of wandering the grid to finally grasp the theme. Which I did at PETIT F[OUR]S. After that, in light of my newfound knowledge, I went back and reexamined the NW corner and saw T[EN]T DRESS. Aha, we’re counting down from TEN. From there I was able to fill in the missing numbers and resolve the EIGHT remaining blank areas around the other themers. One of my problems was (duh) not having checked the title before starting the solve although, as others have said, maybe that made it more interesting for me. I made only one theme-related error before understanding what was wanted: I alleged that five popes had chosen the name PIUS, which fit the 61A slot like a glove. This, in spite of the fact that tucked away in a separate and temporarily inaccessible compartment of my brain was the knowledge that the controversial WWII pope was Pius XII. Sigh.
Dare I mention that I briefly entertained COWPOo before COWPOX? Yes, I guess I do. Also ”terse” before SHORT [Curt]. No problem with RERAN/RAH and the crossing playwrights, O’NEILL and ALBEE. ONE ILL is an odd dook, though. Yeah, ASPIRER – ouch. No idea on SANDRA LEE (and was hoping that SANDRA dEE had made a huge career comeback as a celebrity chef). Awareness of SKEE-Ball has escaped me until this morning. Also no clue about PARAMUS (but it keeps suggesting the doomed lovers PARAMUS and Thisbe – oh, that’s PyRAMUS, you say?).
[Spelling Bee: Fri -1, Sat 0. Exactly the same result as you @okanaganer, with the same missing word – wish I’d remember that one.]
Ah, thanks, not that I am any more familiar with THAT, lol
It's DON'TWORKTOOHARD... follow the gimmick
I literally feel like I could have written this write up today! I actually did go ahead and put in the numbers after I got to NINE because, I’m not quite as knowledgeable as you are. But I was so confused by “TINDERS”, had UH NO before UM NO and also the whole RERUN before RERAN etc. I don’t know many popes at all, being Jewish so glad to hear that was not the only reason I had never heard of a SIXTUS and you also used one of my favorite words, Arcane! I always joke that it would make a great celebrity baby name. Thanks for the book rec, always reading. Also overall liked the puzzle tho.
Not my day. I know I'm no genius but the sheer amount of things I had never heard of in this puzzle was woefully embarrassing. TENT DRESS, RED CAP (Porter), SALLIE MAE, OCTAVIO, SIXTUS. PETIT FOURS, the sad thing is I could go on. : (
In the Catholic Mass, one of the eucharistic prayers has this string of names: Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian. That prayer is not used often, but that string always set my brother and me on the verge of giggling. In any case, it helped with this puzzle.
When Charles Deber did this same theme (with the same title) in 1998, he solved the FIVE problem by intersecting HIFI_VENDORS with AMALFI_VESSEL. His puzzle had the numbers hidden in both directions.
Agree with Rex — nice construction but once you get the gimmick, and that happened to be fairly quickly, solving becomes perfunctory. Also had SEETHES.
Skews NY/NJ. She’s Gov Cuomo’s ex, and Paramus is NJ famous for the malls.
An intricately constructed puzzle that involved me every step of the way and required much thinking. I loved it!
I was completely baffled by what looked like it was going to be an IT DRESS -- hardly what you'd expect the designation for a "loose-fitting garment" to be. But I picked up the theme at the much-easier-to-figure-out FR(8) TRAIN. And of course, once I had one theme Across, along with its Down, the entire puzzle became so much easier. Rather on the easy side, in fact.
But wait! There was a Big Trap coming...
I had ??US and wrote in PIUS without a second thought. It didn't take me long to correct to (6)TUS -- but still, it gave me my biggest "Aha!"
Other than not knowing why TATTOOS is the answer to "makeup of some sleeves", I liked everything about this puzzle. The marquee themer, I thought -- so exquisitely embedded -- was ALUM(9)WSLETTER.
A really good and satisfying Sunday that was much fun to solve.
Raritan before PARAMUS
Echo RP on my solve, except I liked it a good bit more than he did. Better than average fill for a Sunday, mild challenge that kept it fun. This was impressive construction, although at the end I wondered if would be possible to pull this off in a smaller puzzle
I was gobsmacked by the fact that I've also never heard of SANDRALEE despite living in PA and following the Cuomo saga for years.
@Ken, I think we're supposed to know ALBEE. In high school English I learned he was mid-century playwright (like ONEILL) but never saw any of his productions
@ Anonymous (8:34m)
From "Beautiful Thing" (1996)
Jamie : You know who Claude Monet is?
Sandra (his mom): Jamie, don't make me out to be thick.
Jamie : Who was he then?
Sandra : He painted the Sixteenth Chapel.
Hey All !
Welp, further proof of the ole brain slowly going bye-bye. Did the D'oh! headslap after reading Rex, because I never realized the "numbers" were Counting Down. Wow, I say now to myself.
It did make for a tougher solve, though, not realizing where the numbers are supposed to go, so there's that at least. 😁
I had the actual numbers in place, ala a 10 in the first space. Once I finished puz, got the Almost There, and decided to hit Check Puzzle. It crossed out all my numbers. I also had three errant letters otherwise. So a true FWE. I fixed the three, hit Reveal Puzzle, as I cared not to change all my numbers, and saw the puz with just the Down numbers written as normal.
I prefer my solve of 10EN, 9INE, 8IGHT, etc.
Har.
Wanted COWPOo for a while. Had COREY in for ALANA. I'm sure some other overwrites I'm forgetting.
Have a Happy Sunday. We had massive winds these past two days out here, so I have to go clean up the yard. All kinds of stuff got blown onto it. Fun times.
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
OK, it's a countdown. But when a puzzle starts with a non-clue (the hyphen), it isn't a crossword puzzle. It's something else.
Crossword puzzles should have words that fit into blank spaces. Instead, this one has whole words in one direction and parts of words in the opposite direction. Imaginative? I suppose so. Fun? Definitely not.
Grid looks more elegant if you put the numeral at the top and the remaining letters (except the first) heading down.
Glad I didn't think to put all the numbers in order as that would have taken all the sizzle and enjoyment from the puzzle. Very clever theme and a fun solve too. Bravo!
Same exact issue here. “Got ya” isn’t an exclamation, that’d be “gotcha!”
ONEill
So much fun. I was sooo far into the solve before I finally grasped the gimmick. I was nearing desperation time when I decided the dashes were probably all numbers, but why? And so many phrases were failing to come together. Then they finally started dropping after the long awaited OHO moment. I was a good deal slower than usual (perhaps because I am stupid, or perhaps because of another seven hour drive home through New Mexico, or perhaps the Pirates of the Caribbean droning on the TV caused cognitive dissonance, or perhaps the petting of the dog), but so what? Life is a wonderful thing and this puzzle was a constant joy with few propers and lots of cute clues. A Sunday worthy of my 14¢.
Tee-Hee: Today's a big day folks. It's huge enough to stop all fidgeting and pay attention. Let's do some math: 700,000 NYTXW subscribers. Maybe 70,000 will finish today's puzzle. 700 will read 🦖 and maybe a hundred or so will comment. Of those, twelve actually read the comments and six have a sense of humor. You know if you read these comments, you're a special human on the glitter scale. You rare-as-unicorners know my relationship with the single most important member of the Times staff. The 11-year-old boy (in brain if not in body) who goes through the daily submissions after school and picks the puzzles to move on to the drunken lonely Ivy-League gig workers supposedly "editing" our daily puzzles. It's the legendary slush pile editor finding the ASS puzzles for us. It's thankless work and the only joy is the ice cream bars in the staff refrigerator and the knowledge you're responsible for sneaking dirty words into the Gray Lady. Dozens of other puzzles each day get the thanks-but-no-thanks letter due to their lack of juvenalia. So now, begging your indulgence, I draw your attention to the ONE uniclue running proudly through the center and top to bottom our beloved 5th grader found for me (us?) today: WANNA TRADE SLUSH PILES? I see you seeing me you seeker of the finest ARSES, you promoter of the puerile, you finder of flatulence. I WANNA pull your finger so hard right now, but I leave you to your expert work at tackling the great SLUSH PILE of wasted effort by constructors failing to see what you and I see. I am humbled and honored to be in this relationship with you. May you live in Neverland forever.
The non-5th grade inspired Uniclues:
1 Dorm room wall coverings depicting enthusiastic support for hot meat.
2 Superhero keeping the confection in confectionery.
3 Lazy Italians.
4 Hey, let's row wearing prom dresses.
5 Station showed Friends.
6 The sad realization birds don't care about snagging fine paintings.
7 Request from learners of English.
1 "RAH MEATBALLS!" POSTERS
2 PETIFOURS' ELAN AVENGER
3 DON'T WORK TOO HARD CORLEONES
4 ELEGANT CREW TEAM IDEA (~)
5 TRU RERAN BLEAK SHORT
6 EMU'S STOLEN ART ERROR (~)
7 END AT SIX IDIOMS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Key element in being naked, sudsy, and full of wonder. ODIST BATH WATER.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Rex,
Just a little disappointed with your music choices this fine Sunday. You had your little rant about TAKE FIVE but then didn't drop in the obvious song from Dave Brubeck.
https://www.google.com/search?q=dave+brubeck+take+five&oq=dave+brubeck+take+five&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyDggAEEUYORhDGIAEGIoFMgwIARAAGEMYgAQYigUyDAgCEAAYQxiABBiKBTIMCAMQABhDGIAEGIoFMgwIBBAAGEMYgAQYigUyDAgFEAAYQxiABBiKBTIMCAYQABhDGIAEGIoFMgcIBxAAGIAE0gEINDUxMGowajGoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:9502b41f,vid:tT9Eh8wNMkw,st:0
I know nothing about indoor shopping malls in New Jersey, so having entered the opening PA in 24D, I dropped in PAssaic. That took some undoing. Wondering how many states have two municipalities with 7 letter names beginning with PA? Not going to figure it out. Lewis? :-)
Chris R (9:08) -- "...that prayer is not used often..."
I think the best answer to that might be: "Thank God!"
Sixto, from the Latin Sixtus, is a not uncommon Spanish given name. Sixto Rodriguez was a singer from Detroit who made a few albums in the early 1970's, then seemingly disappeared from the music scene, although his recordings started gaining a significant following abroad, particularly in South Africa. He was the subject of the documentary "Searching For Sugarman" in 2012.
I'll Slip Away
Also, "The Flying Nun" had a character named Sister Sixto. She was portrayed by Shelley Morrison, who later played Rosario on "Will And Grace".
Lewis, you are a gem.
I haven't touched the puzzle yet, and barely skimmed the blog so as not to spoil the fun, but in view of all the adverse comments on Will Shortz over the years, I'm sure we all wish him a full recovery during his rehab. NPR this morning played his explanation of his absence the last month - he had a stroke on Feb. 4th.
@Joe Depinto (11:13)
So Sister Sixto also left the convent - or, better, flew the coop - on the wings of Sister Bertrille?
“As a born-and-bred New Jerseyan, he hopes solvers will excuse 34-Down, which he’s “probably more comfortable” than most.”
Well I for one do not forgive him for PARAMUS. Nor do I forgive him for SIXTUS, for which I entered SIXThS figuring there were five popes who were the sixths of some name like Pope John the Sixth etc.
No. I do not forgive the constructor or the editors, for this dreadful Natick.
@egsforbreakfast 1:03 AM
As King for the Day I hereby knight you First Jester of the Square Table (you know crosswords don't fit on round tables). I almost leapt from my chair and ran around squealing when I saw SLUSH PILE. Vindication!
@Alejandro Rey 11:59 – Correctamundo.
Birch bark and pine cones are not good tinder.
I like the idea that you've made it halfway thru the theme, and you can have a little rest.
Go ahead and TAKE FIVE.
For that, I was willing to give five being five a pass.
@ Anonymous
Mid 20th century to this century
The Play About the Baby (drama) 1996
The Goat, Or, Who is Sylvia? (drama) 2000
I believe The Play About the Baby was produced onBroadway about 2000.
Sunvolt 6:21
Inane and unknowable?? Doesn't every schpplchild learn about Jenner/ cowpox/ smallpox vaccine?
RickO 10;30
Tokyo for the link. Listening to it now.
@pabloinnh 8:28 AM
I've merely acted as a celebrant of our true hero, the SLUSH PILE editor. I have written a paean below to the excellence they alone deserve.
I agree with H.O.T. Charles; CREW TEAM is redundant. I avoided putting it in until I was forced to by the crosses.
I Liked the way THREE was split into three parts: earTH RE-Entry. Whether you write RE-ENTRY or REENTRY, the double E is at the very least split into two syllables.
Aha! Now I learned something useful today!
@Rob 9:44 AM. >>Grid looks more elegant if you put the numeral at the top and the remaining letters (except the first) heading down.
I originally entered them that way, but when I was done the Times site kept telling me something was amiss. I could *not* figure out where my mistake was. Finally I realized it wanted the first letter in those squares, to make the "count" go "down" visually.
Also passes because pun on ‘work,’ as in art works or works of art
ASS count today: ZERO.
Otherwise, Rex said it for me today - except that I entered the countdown fill first.
And what's all this hoopla about ALBEE and SANDRA LEE? Everyone should know ALBEE if they've done any reading or worked crosswords for a few years. Besides, the fill easily solves both for you.
My only question about PARAMUS is: What syllable is accented? Is it pair-AM-us or PEAR-amus?
yep. As @Eniale pointed out, we certainly all wish Puzmaster Will Shortz a very speedy and complete recovery from his stroke of 4 Feb. Terrible news.
Cool countdown puz.
staff weeject picks: TEN, SIX, TWO, ONE. (blast-off)
Thanx, Mr. Vu dude. Nice one. And two. And etc.
Masked & Anonymo9Us
**gruntz**
I have never commented on a Sunday puzzle before. Obviously I’m a newbie. Buy WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO PUZZLES THAT FEATURED KNOWLEDGE OF VOCABULARY INSTEAD OF PLAYING STUPID GAMES???????
Cosmas and Damian were twins. They are the patron saints of physicians and surgeons. They were martyred. Chrysogonous was an esteemed African Christian bishop who was martyred. Clement was the third successor of Peter. He conversed with Paul and Peter. He knew them. He was martyred in 96 A.D. under Domitian. Casting vitriolic aspersions is for the unedified.
It looks like I’m the only one who tried Rebussing the numbers — putting TEN in that uppermost NW square instead of just T, etc. No happy tune at the end and I had to de-rebus all ten squares to get the solve music. Otherwise a pretty easy Sunday.
Found this easy except for the Kea-Natick* at 15D/29 35A. Almost cost me a 90-day streak.
*Kea-Natick - a Kea/Loa crossing a Natick. In this case, GOTme crossing mAT and ALeNA.
@johnk – Puh-RAM-us. First vowel is a schwa.
And it wasn’t dad jokes
I’m sure we all wish him a full and speedy recovery:
NPR puzzlemaster Will Shortz says he is recovering from a stroke
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/03/1235697837/npr-puzzlemaster-will-shortz-stroke#:~:text=I%20had%20a%20stroke%20on,The%20Puzzler%20podcast%20with%20A.J.
sandra lee became infamous for awhile. anthony bourdain took regular digs at her, and she made some truly abhorrent recipes. see if you can find the one for the kwanzaa cake and you'll see what i mean. but i love cooking and cooking shows. had no clue on paramus, never heard of it.
-stephanie.
As the conceit became evident early on, I was wondering what Rex would say. He was kinder than I expected. There were challenges, but in spite of some resistance, it was kind of a bore. 'He's with me' had great potential for a humorous misdirect or other play on words. Other lost opportunities as well.
Sorry to hear about Will Shortz , wishing him a speedy recovery.
Sorry to hear about Will Shortz.
I wish him a speedy recovery.
Yesp, NINEH crossing ALBEE was a nope from me.
Anonymous 10:09
Is got ya used?
I looked it up. The internet says it is. Just because I can’t remember hearing it, doesn’t mean it isn’t spoken.
Good catch Anonymous 10:17 AM
Reply to Lewis 7:54 AM
One in ONEill
As a regular NPR listener I was saddened to hear that Will was suffering but glad to hear his very weakened voice. I’m not the crossword wizzes y’all are but I’ve enjoyed his Sunday quizzes for 30 years and crosswords for 10 or so. Get better my friend.
For whatever reason, this puzzle was in my wheelhouse so it was easy except for the SE corner. It helped that I was looking quickly around the grid and saw petit4s clue. Got gimmick early by luck. Liked the puzzle
I agree with the response that Albee is not obscure. He is in no way a contemporary of O’Neill. O’Neill was famous before Albee was born! (BTW Albee died only 5 or so years ago).
Albee has had numerous plays, with several revivals at major New York stages, and several quite recently.
The movie in the’60’s made of his first his first major play is of course “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Old but starring a very famous couple, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.
NC Wyeth who crossed Natick is the cause of the term. Not even close.
I was really upset by the sad news about Will Shortz and hope he'll be OK. I sent him a card via snail mail earlier today; his home address is actually online.
Though I know him only from his warm and delightful emails, he impresses me as one of the nicest people you could ever hope to know. He's good-natured, wonderfully open, appreciative of good wishes, and completely oblivious to his own celebrity -- which, at least in our own community is not inconsiderable. I also feel he has livened up the world of the NYT puzzle over the years, making it trickier, funnier and infinitely more imaginative than it was under previous editors. I wish him a speedy recovery and a quick return to his job.
@anon and @dgd -- Excellent catch! I stand corrected.
Agree with @fun_cfo about EARTH REENTY. A spacecraft may reenter the atmosphere or return to earth, but if it reenters earth, it would be more than a "concern."
Can someone explain the "7/" clue and answer for me? I sussed out the answer but still don't understand the clue
The Sistine Chapel is named for Pope Sixtus IV, the pope who commissioned its construction. Sixtus in Italian is Sistus, if I recall correctly.
You're not. Read my previous comment.
RooMonster Numbers Guy
It's a date reference... 7/4/24 is July 4th. At least in this country.
Countdown to WHAT!!? As a kid, one of my go-to doodles was a rocket ship, next to which i would write, from to to bottom, the numbers, with an all-caps "BLASTOFF" at the end.
After TEN and NINE, i ran the grid in anticipation of the traveler, which never came. :(
Never knew Sandra Lee was a first lady of NY. I watched her show twice, then HAD to hatewatch it twice more, to confirm the absurdity of what I was witnessing. Her kitchen and her tablescape matched what she was cooking. Breakfast omelette? Potholders, curtains, spatulas, placemats, even shelf knickknacks would all be yellow.
A marinara sauce? All that would be red.
Pretty stupid gimmick.
The premise of her show was a good one... But nobody does semi-homemade like Jacques Pépin.
The puzzle was fun to solve, but really wish it hadn't been a literal dud.
Oops .. Revealer, not traveler...
For anyone young enough to be familiar with Vine, Sandra Lee is also infamous as the “‘two’ shots of vodka” woman. (https://youtu.be/csn2CIWPVbM?si=oePgrEVJNpkwBm29)
Have to cop a DNF because of a single square: 114. Absolutely no IDEA either across or down. Guys, PLEASE make your crosses fair.
Hard to start: no revealer. Finally had to look at the TITLE (!) to figure out what was going on. then on, easy but for that last square. Very disappointing.
Wordle birdie.
Poof! And then it was done.
Once again, a puzzle with a trick that, in the long run, actually helped in the solve one, two, three or more times!
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
A tattoo “sleeve” has tattos covering the arm.
TINDER'S TRU TESTS
DON'TWORKTOOHARD on SALLIEMAE,
ONE RE-ENTRY DON'T go well,
TAKEFIVE shots AT SANDRA RAE,
or DON'T ARGUE, go TWO ELLE.
--- SRTA. ALANA LEE ALBEE
Yeah, some ELEGANT constructioneering there. No title in my paper so no help there. Figured out the number thing on FREIGHTTRAIN.
Wordle bogey, third shot at GBGGG
A lot of Catholic haters on this blog! I can tell you exactly when all five Sixtus' were popes.
No I can't!!!
Early April Fools!!!
GOTYA!!!
For the 117D/128A cross, I had:
REV(reverend) and EVS(electric vehicles).
I like my answers better.
Despite the wistful circumstance, I have to thank you for the laugh!
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