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2000s sitcom about a woman with amnesia / SAT 5-11-24 / Environmental writer ___ Leopold / Ring-shaped bone that supports the skull / Meal makeup, maybe / HMO designation, for short / Forerunner of a streaming playlist / East African city whose name means "house of peace" / Pacesetter on a long frigid journey
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Constructor: Billy Bratton
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Word of the Day: ALDO Leopold (26A: Environmental writer ___ Leopold) —
Aldo Leopold (January 11, 1887 – April 21, 1948) was an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), which has been translated into fourteen languages and has sold more than two million copies.
Leopold was influential in the development of modern environmental ethics and in the movement for wilderness conservation. His ethics of nature and wildlife preservation had a profound impact on the environmental movement, with his ecocentric or holistic ethics regarding land. He emphasized biodiversity and ecology and was a founder of the science of wildlife management.
• • •
"SAMANTHA WHO?"! How did I know it? Well, first, I watched it. All of it, I think (it wasn't on the air very long, sadly—just two seasons, '07-'09). The other reason I remembered it so quickly is that I've had a signed promotional photo from that show staring at me here in my office for ~15 years!
A couple things clunked for me today, but they were LITTLE THINGs (see! plural!). I don't believe "I'M CALM" is a thing (1D: "No, you're the one getting worked up!"). I mean, you might say it, but it really doesn't want to stand alone. If you're saying "No, you're the one getting worked up!" with the stress and the exclamation point and everything, you're not calm. Also, if anything, you would say "I AM CALM," no contraction, as you're obviously disputing someone else's claim that you're not. Got a big "NO" written next to that answer. Another big "NO" written next to FISTS (43D: "Rocks"). I assume this refers to the game "Rock Paper Scissors"—you'll note how the game is not called "Rocks Papers Scissors." Putting "Rocks" in quotation marks like that is especially egregious since no one says "Rocks" in the context of the game. Maybe a game recap? ("I played four rocks, three papers, and a scissors!"). But no. "Rocks" is ice. "Rock" is FIST, singular. Boo to this answer.
Hardish getting started today since no idea re: ATLAS or MRS. Meyer's whatever it is or random 5-letter boy's name. Also had some TEND/LEAN confusion (23A: Show bias). The other confusion up there was actually the answer that got me started: 5D: Many are Persian (RUGS). Of course CATS works too. Luckily both answers occurred to me before I committed to either, so I tried the neighboring answer to see which of RUGS v CATS worked best alongside it. This led to the hilarious moment at 6D: Gross home? where I went "Oh, Ari Gross! He's on NPR!" (brain, to me, five seconds later: "Uh, no ... Arye Gross co-starred on the sitcom Ellen. You're thinking of ARI Shapiro. He's on NPR. As is, famously, Terry Gross ... how you make it through a Monday let alone a Saturday is beyond me"). Who cares how I got there; I got there. NPR! That meant RUGS not CATS, and then INTERN, and then I was off and running.
Wrong answers: yes! I had some. "THAT'S IT!" for "THAT ONE" (34D: Comment with a point, say); "SAME HERE" for "SAMESIES" (good answer, but cringe thing-to-actually-say) (50A: "OMG, me too!"); SLED DOG for LEAD DOG (11D: Pacesetter on a long, frigid journey). I think that's it! That's plenty! My favorite clues were probably 15A: Asked for the fish, say (MEOWED) and 47A: Mythical rock singer (SIREN). And while I didn't exactly like 24A: Cheerios alternative, I have to respect it, because it sure as hell got me ("I thought I knew all the five-letter cereals! What the hell!?"). Not the cereal but the farewell(s). That is one way to turn TATAS (!) into an acceptable answer—distract me with the clue! I like how the puzzle later taunted me, like "hey, remember how you thought "Cheerios" was a cereal? That was fun. You were thinking of something with ... OATS, weren't you?" (40A: Meal makeup, maybe). Shut up, puzzle.
Last notes:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
- 18A: "Path" of progress (INROAD) — As with ["Rocks"], I have no idea what the quotation marks think they're doing here. Take them away, in this case, and the clue works fine.
- 55A: Line around the Equator? ("IT'S HOT") — just imagining the millions of people who inhabit the equatorial portion of the globe walking around all day going "IT'S HOT" literally all the time. But I guess I'm supposed to imagine a North American traveling to the Equator, someone who would find the absolutely normal heat remarkable.
- 36A: Ones that are tired before they even move? (NEW CARS) — saw right through this one because I know the puzzle's tendency for the dumbest of puns. No one would say that their car was "tired" (in the sense of "possessing four tires") ... except some puzzlemaking nerds, they would definitely say that.
TATAS, everyones!
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
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109 comments:
Easy-Medium for me also.
Overwrites:
5D: My Persians were catS before they were RUGS
6D: My Gross home was a sty before it was NPR
7A: I don't know why but I always -- ALWAYS -- spell ATTILA with one T and two L's first.
9D: TORTe before TORTA
21D: Wanted the "house of peace" city to be Casablanca, but it didn't fit (and it means "white house")
25D: SIT down before SIT HERE
ALDO Leopold (26A), MRS. Meyer's Clean Day (27A) and Burgess SHALE (42A) were WOEs. Had forgotten about Samantha Who (14D).
Don't worry, little 1D, I'm calm.
SAMANTHA WHO was a WOE for me--never heard of it, never saw it, and Christina Applegate hasn't ever sent me anything. But it was fairly crossed.
I got into the puzzle with MRS Meyer's--I have some under my sink. Got the NW first, then the SW, then the NE, then the center (and SAMANTHA WHO)--and enjoyed all four mini-puzzles. But the SE gave me a hard time until I realized that the MI--- should be MIXTAPE. I'm sadly too old to have made or shared MIXTAPEs; I thought the answer was going to be some kind of CD or something. But that got me into the final corner. One of the easier--and more fun--Saturdays in a while.
I asked my wife if I could have TATAS for breakfast instead of my usual CHEERIOS, and now I’m a PARIAH in my own home.
I started with SKEW for show bias, guess it’s the statistician in me trying to get out.
I just want to note that the puzzles are steadily improving and so our new editor is learning the ropes. I don’t rely much on folks saying the puzzle is “hard” or “ easy” (other than to smile at the pros on this blog’s comments since they are at a completely different level) since in my experience I have found some puzzles too easy and other puzzles too hard when others have had the opposite experience. I had a lot of fun today which is why I solve daily. And to OFL, you should know that there are at least two NBA hall of famers who read your blog and occasionally comment and one rapper who many consider one of the pioneers of rap. At times I for one do the puzzle so I can then read the blog in context.
Got slowed down by "sleeze" instead of CREEPO.
I think you were the only one to watch it Rex - that and SAMESIES mar an otherwise top notch grid. Agree we get five separate minis with this visually handsome architecture - but each section has a few gimmes for the foothold. I think we’ve seen DAR ES SALAAM previously.
Dwight
Cute misdirects - liked NPR, SIREN and “Cons”. I’m told that you’re never TOO OLD? Knew SHALE - that and the wonderful GOT THE SHAFT allowed me to back into the unknown sitcom.
Enjoyable Saturday morning solve. Matt Sewell’s Stumper gives us a nice center spanner today but it too is also a highly segmented layout. Hope all the mothers have a great weekend!
I want to go home
Could've been TILT or LIST also. :(
I spent too long trying to make “Rocks” not be FISTS because I had no idea what that could mean and already felt uncomfortable with TATAS, TANTRIC, SEXT and GOTTHESHAFT in the puzzle, along with the weirdness of anyone saying “ITSHOT” at the Equator, I mean, it feels like a rather ordinary and unremarkable feature of being there. STUDS and MEOWED also questionable!
Good luck to the MRS, I’m getting CREEPO vibes here. Plus the TESLAS? Yikes.
I knew exactly what show they were referring to, but, frustratingly, I couldn’t recall the name without most of the crosses. Always been a fan of Ms. Applegate, and very much enjoyed the anecdote about Rex’s brush with fame.
SAMESIES on first glance at grid and thinking “great, 5 puzzles”. And for the most part, it was. Which is to say nothing from the corners gave me the middle, and vice versa (actually GOATYOGA helped a lot with GOTTHESHAFT.) Thankfully, each corner had at least 1 good, inscrutable answer (to me) to get started:
NW - TESLAS
NE - TORTA
SE - MIXTAPE
SW - GOATYOGA
In the Center, it was BATTLESCARS, but I wasn’t 100% sure like the corners.
Overall, I enjoyed this Saturday. I finished in mid twenties time wise, which is on fast side for me, but didn’t seem easy or speedy during solve.
This gorgeous grid thrilled my Libra love of balance, and won me over before filling in my first letter. A grateful “Ahh” spontaneously radiated from me out into the universe when I saw it.
Oh, sure, it creates five mini-puzzles, which is scary, because it’s Saturday, and the corners don’t get much help from the center, but praises to the constructor and editor for intelligently placing footholds to make the puzzle fair.
The grid pattern was done once before in the Times, 4/18/20, by Ryan McCarty. What marked that puzzle was the pop in the center. Billy followed suit today, with seven NYT answer debuts in that section. So much skill went into making this puzzle, a 66-worder with hardly a whiff of junk, and so vibrant.
I, a lover of wordplay, emitted “Hah!” after “Hah!” after “Hah!” from the wit that saturated the cluing: [Line around the Equator], [Comment with a point], [Gross home?], and [Cheerios alternative] for starters.
Another “Hah!” followed the serendipitous cross of SIT HERE and a backward SAT AT.
I actually left this puzzle wired, electrified by the pop, the cleverness, and the joy of riddle-cracking that this grid gave me. This was a wow. This was scintillating. More, Billy, more please! Thank you so much for crafting this!
While solving, I figured Rex would destroy this puppy for (1) the segmented grid which restricts his “whoosh” potential, and (2) just being too easy. I guess it stuck just the right balance since today’s write-up is about as positive as OFL ever gets.
I also think it’s ironically funny that Rex has an autographed picture of the star (or possibly a COSTAR?) of the SAMANTHA WHO program in his office and he still almost drew a blank on that one - no surprise that it was just Dark Matter for me.
Even with the segmented grid, it seemed like once you got a toehold in each section, things dropped into place without a ton of resistance, which is just right for me. It will be interesting to see if there is a significant outcry that it’s too easy for a Saturday as the day goes on.
Found it tougher than Rex, but enjoyed obit just as much. Did not remember SAMANTHA WHO, so that slowed progress in the center. Then the Southeast corner - woof. Had to put it aside last night and come back to it this morning. I was pretty confident that FARE and MIX TAPE were right, but nothng else came easy. I wrote SAMESIES in three or four times but could never get the crosses to work. Finally saw PARIAH and that opened everything up.
My fastest Saturday yet! I was nervous (I’m still new to this and Saturday scares me) so I checked puzzle a couple times, but was proud of myself for doing well.
Every section (minus the middle) had a couple answers that got me started. Knew TESLA and RUGS in the NW, TORTA and LEAD DOG (once took a sledding class in Alaska!), GOAT YOGA and knew ANGOLA cold (fun fact, one summer I memorized all the flags of the world like a total nerd), and FARE and MIXTAPE. The G and the T then opened up the middle with GOT THE SHAFT and I was off to the races. Really really fun puzzle(s)!
I liked this a lot, a good Saturday workout, by which I mean it was a challenge but I could work it all out eventually. I found the NE and the SE the hardest because I had ateout at 15A and dontdoit at 10D. But dontdoit morphed into dontdoNT with the help of LITTLETHING (agree it’s normally plural) and GOTTHESHAFT, and eventually I got rid of ateout and the rest flowed but I don't really like MEOWED as clued. I do like IWOULDNT though, a much better answer than my original wrong one.
MRS was a gimme (doesn’t anyone who cleans their house and/or walks through the cleaning products aisle at the store know this one?) Hmm.
The SE was hard because of FISTS mainly - and SAMESIES, ridiculous, like a lot of internet slang. I had SAMEhere for a long time and FISTS, which I finally put in (last thing) because nothing else fit, was a WOE.
PCP/hmo ?
What’s the connection here?
Primary Care Physician
I was smug to have easily seen through "rock singer," and wrote in CIRCE. Gotta brush up on my Greek mythology...
Primary care provider.
Primary Care Provider
That felt about right! First pass yielded few footholds, then was able to piece three of the four corners together, then the middle, and finished in the SE. Enjoyed this one.
I think that when you are in an HMO you have to designate a single doctor as your PCP (primary care provider). If you need services from anyll specialist or really any doctor that isn't your PCP, the PCP has to write a referral. I'm pretty sure that's the system.
EWWWW
Had the puzzle completed correctly, but could not make sense of NPR so took out the end of MEETUPS, then wound up putting it back in exactly the same way. I assume Gross is someone's name? I'll renew my objection to the NYT assumption that we know everyone (or, for that matter, anyone) on NPR (or, for that matter, any radio network).
I had no memory at all of SAMANTHA WHO until I read the Wikipedia description and though “oh, yeah, I've seen commercials for that”. I remember thinking it was an interesting concept but it must have been on at an inconvenient time.
I like CREEPO next to PARIAH.
@Conrad - I'm with you on atilla/attila. I have learned to fill in the first AT and the final LA and wait on crosses for the two middle letters. Just one of those things that won't stick no matter how often I 'learn' it.
I have to imagine MRS Meyers is regional. I've spent a lot of time buying cleaning products and have never heard of it.
Hey All !
Broke my streak today, although puz was easy here. The usual "stuck everywhere" feeling, but started to get an answer or two here and there, eventually leading to a solve. Unsure if the A in TATAS/DARESSALAAM. Also, my DNF spot of TORTe/eLDO. After running the vowels for TATAS and still not getting the Happy Music, decided to hit Check Puzzle to find my errant e crossed out. Never would've found it.
Puz was good. Like I said, easy, keeping the few brain cells left intact and working.
Odd clue on THAT ONE. Oh, wait, brain just clicked. You point at something whilst saying THAT ONE. Ah, I see the phrase trickery there.
Got yer triple O in TOOOLD. Lots of T's in the middle section.
Last nice weather day today here. Gonna get into the 90's for highs starting Sunday. It is that time of year here. 100's right around the corner. AC time (which equates to higher electric bill time...)
Happy Saturday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Very enjoyable. Over too fast. On paper, in ink, no crossouts. Learned 5 new things.
Fun puzzle but too many things I didn’t know in the mid section. Glad to have learned about Samantha Who? That sounds like a fun watch if I can find it somewhere.
Definitely had the four corners done and the middle blank. Being a doctor helped with ATLAS but yeah if you don’t know, you don’t know. 100% agree about Rocks? I was totally trying to figure out how Ice could have five letters.
The southeast whooped me. PCP and SAMESIES put a nail in my coffin. And DAR ES SALAAM wasn't going to help even though I think it might have been in another puzzle a couple of years ago. That's a lotta real estate for a town.
Otherwise, it was a raucous solve with so many silly clues and fun phrases. Super clean fill.
Propers: 4
Places: 2
Products: 4
Partials: 3
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 15 (22%)
Tee-Hee: Did you guys see they snuck SEXT in at the bottom of the puzzle? OMG! They're really showing their TATAS.
Uniclues:
1 Hun hopeful.
2 Feline fêtipodes.
3 Soundtrack of sadness.
4 Y'know, Felix Ungar.
5 Class you'll attend to calm down when you discover that expensive car has to stay within eyeshot of a plug.
6 My stupid lawyer.
7 Each titan of industry if their tax returns are to be believed.
1 ATTILA INTERN (~)
2 MEOWED MEETUPS (~)
3 ANGOLA MIX TAPE
4 NEATER, THAT ONE
5 TESLA'S GOAT YOGA
6 "I WOULDN'T" PARIAH
7 LEAD DOG CREEPO
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Noah's arm. BENCHMARK CUBIT.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In answer to the person who asked the connection between PCP and HMO, the HMOs started the concept of a “Gatekeeper” called the PCP (Primary Care provider) who would be the only one that could refer someone to a sub specialty doctor. The term has become more ubiquitous now, but that’s how it originated. Early on it was Primary care physician, but as NPs became more prevalent it changed to Provider.
ADDSiN /ALDi along with TAToS made this one hard to finish for me. Had SAMEhere for a long time which blocked the SE but eventually figured it out.
NW a no go and where I eventually finished. Took forever to see "cons" as the short form of "conventions", I kept wanting some kind of a rigged sporting event.
Got started with MEOWED and IWOULDN'T and went NE, SW, Middle, SE, NW. SAMANTHAWHO was a literal Samantha Who? My tv watching is pretty much limited to news and sports, and I can't say I share OFL's fascination with celebrities. The show may have been his major entry point but the first long answer I filled in was DARESSALAAM, which appeared from I don't know where.
Found out about the ATLAS bone, the flag of ANGOLA, what MII might be, met MRS Meyers, and learned that some people say SAMESIES. Not adults, I hope.
Nice crunchy Saturday, BB. A Bit Bedeviling at first but resolved nicely, and thanks for all the fun.
The constructor, in his notes, said he seeded this puzzle with GOAT YOGA -- a fitting choice, IMO, from someone whose name is Billy.
Crashed and burned in the SE. Rex explained beautifully why the clue for FISTS is terrible. I guessed it but having the S didn't suggest SAMESIES. That sounds like something a pre-teen girl would say. The clue for ITSHOT is cute, but it stretches the meaning of "line" to the breaking point. MII has been in the puzzle before but it didn't stick.
Did I fail or did the puzzle fail? I'm saying it was the puzzle.
@anon 8:17 PCP= Primary Care Physician (or Provider), which makes more sense here as an insurance term than it did last time PCP was clued as a professional rather than a drug. Maybe someone upstairs is reading the blog.
I worked crosses first and it felt like a 90s era slog with only a few solid answers and some guesses. The downs was more of a current Wednesday, and the whole thing flew by in a very fast Saturday for me.
Did ALDO Leopold go on to create a Canadian shoe company? I think that’s what I’ve learned solving the puzzle over time…
@anon 8:17 PCP= Primary Care Physician (or Provider), which makes more sense here as an insurance term than it did last time PCP was clued as a professional rather than a drug. Maybe someone upstairs is reading the blog.
I worked crosses first and it felt like a 90s era slog with only a few solid answers and some guesses. The downs was more of a current Wednesday, and the whole thing flew by in a very fast Saturday for me.
Did ALDO Leopold go on to create a Canadian shoe company? I think that’s what I’ve learned solving the puzzle over time…
Yikes! Toughest Saturday I’ve done in a while. Even with cheating it was a struggle and I got tripped up by clues. Starting with a 8D/place left of the units I was not thinking math at all and drew a TOTAL blank. Nor did I visualize a cat who MEOWED for fish but I should have since mine does that every day. Then 32D, IFS as a “coding statement” was a mystery. And when TATAS appeared, I wasn’t thinking of OATS. Nope, my naughty mind went directly to this scene from An Officer And A Gentleman. The bodacious scene at 1:25 if you care to skip forward.
SAMESIES was a little too much and DARESS ALAAM? Seriously? WHO the heck knows that? But I did love the clues for IT’S HOT and NEW CAR. Thank goodness it didn’t have anything to do with gas gauges.
Well, this obviously was in some people's wheelhouses, but definitely not in mine. And if I didn't subscribe to the NYT for reasons other than the crossword, this is a puzzle that might well persuade me to cancel my subscription.
Truly.
I wondered if cheating on DARESSALAAM would break the puzzle open for me. I did and it didn't. Not even close.
I came to Rex and cringed when I saw he called it "Easy-Medium." And while I was cringing, my eye caught sight of INTERN at 1A. Would INTERN open up the puzzle for me?
Almost. But the SE corner remained un-gettable. Back to Rex -- and now I see why. SAMESIES. Ugh. Are we all toddlers speaking baby talk? (I had SAME HERE). FISTS for "Rocks". In what universe? A Nintendo clue crossing a streaming playlist clue. What hope is there for MII. (MII???!!!)
But awfulness lurks everywhere. What does "cons for fans" even mean when the answer is MEETUPS. WHO is SAMANTHA? Is she like Sylvia ("Who is Sylvia?/What is she?/That all our swains commend her?")
I know I will have BATTLE SCARS from this puzzle. It made me feel dumb -- that is until I looked at the solution and realized that it's not me who's dumb. What I am, however, is perhaps just TOO OLD for the gibberish that passes for the English language these days.
Liked this a lot - but didn’t expect “I” being used 2.5 times in answers - I WOULDNT, AM I, and IM CALM.
Medium for me, and fun to solve, after I overcame my trepidation about being able to get into all of the segments. SAMESIES with @Southside Johnny: "Even with the segmented grid, it seemed like once you got a toehold in each section, things dropped into place without a ton of resistance." I really liked the range of answers, from ATTILA to DAR ES SALAAM to GOAT YOGA.
Do-over: SIT down. Help from being a Wisconsinite: ALDO Leopold. Small moments of triumph: seeing right through the "Cherrios" and "rock singer" clues. No idea: aptly, SAMANTHA WHO?
A second week of pretty breezy Saturdays for me. There was a lot I didn't get at first but were fairly crossed, so no complaints. I did get hung up on SAMESIES for a sec, then groaned I didn't see it at first. Oh well.
First breakout was GOATYOGA, and that's fun.
Well, I’m officially on CDT (CHihuahuA Diva Time). Up at 5:30, took the DOG on the LEAD for her first “constitutional” of the day (during which she dropped a few amendments, as Simon Moon said about Eddie on Frasier), fed her (she’s gained a pound in the two days I’ve had her - she was so thin in the stomach she looked like whichever Kardashian was strapped in that corset at the Met Ball) then did the puzzle.
Only Meyer I could think of was Veep SELINA, but got MRS from the downs.
Then, as soon as they opened at 7, went to Target to get more food for Her Royal Highness.
And when looking for carpet deodorizer (yes, despite the fact I had had a doggylawn piece of sod Fedexed in, Diva preferred the carpet - PADIDDLing at the first chance to bliw my security deposit), saw a whole rack of MRS. Meyer cleaners!
Amazing how when the doggy bladder opens, the cleaning products appear!
Yep, five minipuzzles for me, each dominated by a different lead character: ETHAN the INTERN in the NW, the LEAD DOG ATTILA in the NE, the GOAT YOGA CO-STAR in the SW, a CREEPO PARIAH in the SE, and the TITAN SAMANTHA WHO with her TANTRIC TATAS in the middle.
I got the NE first very quickly but those greeters that ushered Rex into new rooms did not show up for me. Having the final NG of one long answer and the final T of another got me exactly one letter in the center section - I correctly guessed an I came before NG. And so it went as each of the other four sections fell one by one, finishing with the NW.
I’m not really complaining though. I enjoyed my five puzzles, with some great answers and outstanding clues - “mythical rock singer” being a candidate for best-of-year.
I miss the MIX TAPE. It used to be a great gift. You carefully curated a group of themed songs and put the work into cuing each up and hitting record and stop, carefully inserting some dead space between each track. Then you write out all the titles on the cassette insert, put a clever name and perhaps some art on the part that shows when they’re all stacked up. The recipient was truly grateful and listened endlessly. Now you just click some boxes on Spotify and - what? - send someone the link? How do you woo somebody that way? One of my favorite groups of mix tapes I made was The Four Stages of Love: four tapes titled I Want You, I Love You, I Hate You, and I Miss You, each with representative tunes. Sigh. I miss you, MIX TAPE.
“Cons” = common abbreviation for “conventions.”
Dar es Salaam is 7th grade level Geography
I thought this was going to be the easiest Saturday ever, at least for me, until I got to the SE corner. SAMESIES, CREEPO, MII, PENSET and ITSHOT were all impossible for me to parse. So I finally gave in and Googled "Line around the Equator" and that enabled me to fill in the rest. Still finished with one of my fastest Saturday times ever, and I mostly enjoyed the ride.
I forgot CREEPO, also located in the truly dreadful SE corner -- perhaps said by the SAMESIES mangler of the language who says SAMESIES.
No idea on SAMANTHAWHO or GOATYOGA.
GOAT YOGA??? SAMESIES??! Never heard of either until now.
However, I was able to solve this thing after walking away for a couple of minutes.
I didn’t understand the equator answer, or the FISTS, so thanks for that, Rex. Really a bit surprised by the rave.
PARIAH was good, and THATONE gave me a chuckle. I thought 35D might be bestie so COSTAR was a relief.
@Gary Jugert - I like your Grid Gunk Gauge. This puzzle comes out well by those metrics anyway.
Cons for fans refers to conventions, like science fiction.
Samesies and creepo are firmly in my lexicon, and made me smile so much!!
Perfect Saturday for me, meaning solidly in the medium-challenging range. Got absolutely no toe-hold anywhere after going through all of the clues, then slowly chipped away at each section, finishing in the SE with ITSHOT wondering what the hell an "IT SHOT" was, and what it had to do with the equator. Finished in 38:34.
I didn't think I could despise a word more than 'adorbs'. Thank you, SAMESIES, I stand corrected. I also ran aground in the SE, wasn't familiar with PCP except as a drug, and the 'line around the equator' clue got me good.
"I'M CALM" -- a wonderful, quintessential jack gilford moment from sondheim's "...forum."
enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhrX3UnIs74
;-)
Could the clue for 24 across rather have been "Bodacious _____"?
Okay, back to easy week. NE was the toughest part because ATTILA was a WOE plus beaDS before STUDS and rsvpED before MEOWED.
I also did not know ALDO, NPR as clued (me too for sty at first) and ATLAS.
Interesting grid pattern with quite a bit of sparkle, liked it.
@Nancy (10:03) “What I am, is just TOO OLD for the gibberish that passes for the English language these days.” Amen to that my friend. But any more, I just Google it and move on, because what else can a crotchety old pedantic like me do?
@andrew (10:26) Love hearing the progress report with your little Diva. I once had a toy poodle who had been rescued from a hoarder and was in the worst shape of any animal I’ve ever adopted. She had fleas, parasites, mange, missing teeth and was absolutely skeletal. You could see every rib and every bone in her little spine. For the first few weeks, I fed her three times a day and sometimes would give her a slice of bread and butter just to help things along. BTW I recommend Woolite Pet Stain and Odor Remover for your RUGS. In years of experience I’ve found it to be the very best product for removing both stain and smell. And lots of positive reinforcement, including a treat every single time she goes where she’s supposed to. Good luck!
Elon Musk (yes the father of 4 year old son X Æ A-Xii) has pulled off a major CASHGRAB as he BATTLESCARS that run on gasoline, although TESLAS NEWCARS are trucks, some of which get rusty before they get tired.
Some rancor at home this week. It went something like this :
Me: Wanna make sweet love? I've GOTHESHAFT. Did you see my SEXT. ITSHOT.
Mrs. Egs: That LITTLETHING? TOOOLD. Why don't you find me some STUDS interested in MEETUPS?
Me: (sigh) Guess it's always hard to discover you're not LEADDOG anymore.
Not a fan of the "buy one puzzle, get 5 minis" type construction, but if you're gonna SITHERE and do one, this was a keeper. Thanks, Billy Bratton.
I'm. thinking this entire puzzle was built around GOAT YOGA and SAMESIES. I think I'll add an MII to the MIX.
OK, so I was pretty sure INTERN might've been my one A start. RUGS it tis...And then I sat for hours wondering why cons for fans is MEET UPS...Please do tell. Leave puzzle #1 and head for the TORTA and ATTILA over in puzzle # 2. Finished that one without groans.
Head for the middle and try to tackle puzzle # 3. Who is SAMANTHA WHO? I almost had a LITTLE TANTRIC. TANTRIC? I read the clue as meditation and breadwork. Do I TANTRIC my bread? I definitely GOT THE SHAFT. Loved my TATAS and I even spelled DAR ES SALAAM correctly. Damn...I cheated on MEET UPS over in puzzle # 1 and I had some letters for the WHO gal so I cheated on the longest answer and I felt sad that I had to.
Head for puzzle #4. OOF.... CHA 35A...Who are you? OATS are a meal makeup? Really? I cheated on those two guys as well.
I go on over the puzzle # 5 and die. Rocks are FISTS? SAMESIES cheat...IT SHOT for the Equator thing? At least I sorta got CREEPO.
Go back over all the mini puzzles and try to clean up a major mess. I managed with a lot of help.
Loved the clue for MEOWED and NEW CARS. Need I say more?
SAMESIES with our fearless leader today. Actually went to “reveal letter” for that middle S that literally was giving both of us the finger. And five mini puzzles for the price of one only held us up because DAR ES SALAAM isn’t a household item of discussion very often, but several clues were amusing enough to get us through a second cuppa. Especially like the misdirection of “Persian” at 5d echoing the plaintive MEOWED of 15a, a sound recurrent in our house and here on Rexblog. Made for a purrfect solve! Thanks Billy B.
Nancy, I love reading your comments because it always amazes me how someone can so unironically be ignorant of the world and yet feel the need to slam everyone who knows the things they don’t. Samesies is a common slang term. Slang exists. Samantha Who is a very gettable answer with crosses, though I know you loathe anything having to do with any kind of entertainment media. I am curious what you do in your spare time? Read poetry by candlelight and destroy radios with a hammer if they dare to play something created post 1922?
My point is, if you want to be good at crosswords, maybe start watching a few modern movies. Maybe listen to kids these days and how they speak, rather than relegating them to mere “babies” who are clearly beneath your unimpeachable intellect.
I don’t mind when people don’t like puzzles or clues. But insulting entire generations is never called for. You’re not smarter than anyone. You’re just out of touch.
Nothing easy or medium about this for me. All 5 sections has to be started from scratch as I've never heard of that TV show.
While they weren't write overs I found a couple of rather long kea/loas. FASTBUCK/CASHGRAB and BRAINDAMAGE/BATTLESCARS.
I crashed and burned in the SE with a single letter dnf at MIO/MII. This was very disappointing after overcoming the obstacles of SAMESIES( worst abuse of English ever) and FISTS(worst POC ever.) @Nancy I feel your frustration if SITHERE hadn't already been in the puzzle SAMEHERE would have made the SE even harder.
As soon as I got the "so close" I took out the O and was then able to parse _TSHOT correctly. That O was some kind of hail Mary basketball attempt on my part.
MII is one of those bits of crossword flotsam that I miss these days as I no longer do early week puzzles. WII was beaten into my head years ago but the prevalence of Roman numeral clues has kept MII in the shadows.
yd -0. QB27
Not Easy/Medium for me. Had to cheat so much that I just lost interest :(
@Andrew - great news about Diva gaining a bit of weight. More will follow. Get used to those 5:30 am walks. You can always go back to sleep. If she doesn't already, she'll have you by the b***s before you know it! :)
Rex, the equator indeed can be described by visitors with IT'S HOT, but this clue is very timely. In the past week the temperatures have been extremely high all over Southeast Asia, and the heat index has reached 120° in some places. Millions are at risk, and this will only get worse over time with climate change.
Never heard the expression "SAMESIES" before in my life and I hope I never encounter it again. Yuck.
If your of OFL's era, then you've luxuriated in "Silver Streak" and Wilder's "I'm cool!". The only acceptable answer. SAMESIES??? What era coined that?
Ouch! Yet though that's a harsh critique of Nancy, I would agree with it.
I enjoyed this puzzle, although I did find it difficult.
So many entries to love… GOATYOGA❤️
But DNF because of SE. had SIREN in and out several times. Got MIXTAPE right away. Even with FARE I could not get the downs. Not familiar with PCP except as an environmental hazard.
Tried Samehere and Sameasme to no avail.
So I did get locked into that corner with no help. But still enjoyed the solve.
Also never heard of SAMANTHA WHO but just checked it out and it looks wonderful. Jean Smart! Melissa McCarthy! Crosswords really ARE a cultural gateway.
I had cretin.
Thanks, @whatsername! To see the trust grow in a neglected, abandoned pup has been incredible. For 2-3 hours Wednesday afternoon, she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. Holding her, constant petting, talking soothingly, letting her come around in her own time in knowing I’m SAFE made all the difference.
She was found bloody and emaciated in March, survived a week in a shelter and was taken in by a wonderful foster family. All steps were crucial but I think the fostering by generous souls made her begin trusting again.
This is unrelated to xwords, but along with an affinity for word games, think there’s a common love of animals in this community.
Here was my Yelp review of a Twin Cities based foster pet organization, https://www.rescuecrew.org/. If there’s a foster organization in your area (or if you have the means and interest to be a foster yourself), please pursue! Kind of a halfway house step for pets who have through no fault of their own hit rock bottom:
Feel so fortunate to have come across The Rescue Crew!
Had been wanting to adopt a pup for years, but pushing 70, thought I was too old. And the untimely death of my previous dog was still painful, even 6 years later.
Besides, didn't want to do the hit and miss of going to a shelter, where I wouldn't know anything beforehand about who was available and even less about compatibility. Just the heartbreak of looking into the soulful eyes as I walk on by. Would want to take them all, whether they made sense to adopt or not.
Here's where Rescue Crew shines. Available cats and dogs, kittens or puppies are posted - and statuses updated - online. Along with detailed descriptions of what works best for the animal. I don't have a fenced yard, which eliminated my first choice. I don't want to go through puppy training again (did I mention I'm turning 70? Leave that fun - and it IS fun - for younger folks) that made those adorable pups a sub-optimal pick.
The pups and kitties offered have been fostered by the angelic volunteers - so the pets are not damaged, despite their rescue status. They are fully vetted (as, rightfully, are the prospective owners) so you're getting a healthy animal. They bring the pet to meet with you and determine compatibility of fit for both parties. No emotional split-second decision at a shelter (and I'm NOT badmouthing shelters. They serve an incredible function and are the sources of Rescue Crew's adorable, adoptable creatures!) Animal adoption is a serious, longterm decision and should be well thought through.
Lastly, having worked with dozens of non-profits in my long advertising career, have NEVER found an organization as transparent in their funding and expenses. No one is getting rich off this. Just a true philanthropy that subscribes fully to its mission and does it well. With stats for their successes and (sadly) the one or two each month that for medical reasons, must be put down,
My adoptee is a 7 year old chihuahua who already means the world to me (shout out to her foster mom for her great love for the pup and awesome communication with me.)
Highly recommend this fine organization.
JJK
About the cleaning products brand. Mrs. Meyers . I have never in my life purchased it and don’t remember reading about it, hearing the name mentioned or seeing it in the supermarket( I live alone do my own shopping).
One thing I have learned from this blog is not to be surprised at how much I don’t know that many others call a gimme, and how many times what to me is a gimme is totally unknown to many here.
So the answer to your question in the second paragraph is no.
I like to riff on Anoa Bob’s plural of convenience (eg fist) and call little thing a singular of convenience.
Never heard of "Samantha Who" but I love the title.
Lead dog was one of the few answers that went right in for me.
I've never met Meghan @ 10:55, but I can tell she is way younger than I am!
ROCKS as in rocks/paper/scissors . . . . that honestly never occured to me.
I thought that when something really "rocks" and you want to celebrate it, you pump your FIST in the air! Haha, I think I was WAY off.
Anonymous 10:47 AM
As it happened, Dar Es Salaam was a gimme for me. But I doubt very much I learned the name of the city in Jr. high school even in 1964 or 1965. (Tanganyika independent only in 1961, became Tanzania in 1964). I am a geography nerd as someone said. I am sure 7th graders are even less likely to learn it in school these days. But if yo were 12 years old in England during the empire, that would be another story.
So I think you are wrong
It was eerie reading Rex's writeup... I had pretty much every typeover he mentions. Persian CATS, SLED DOGS, SAME HERE, and for "Rocks" ON ICE before FISTS.
I still can't believe GOAT YOGA is a real thing. Many answers like SAMESIES and CREEPO were baffling but okay because Saturday!
[Spelling Bee: Fri 0, and also got Thurs last word (which I have never heard) in OT on Fri evening! Streak 3.]
Rick Glauber
PCP is a doctor.
The game Rock Paper Scissors uses a fist for rock. Love your commentary. Reminds me of Don Rickles. Insulting, but in a humorous and self-deprecating way.
Found this on the hard side. Plus unfortunately I had to do it on my phone because I am away from home and my dead tree edition, no Times in nearby stores and no printer where I am staying.
I despise the Times puzzle app. (And the App for the whole paper for that matter)
But was able to finish it.
Don’t have the same hatred for SAMESIES as many here. Just said oh when I got it. Each generation has to have their slang. (But I think Nancy and I do agree in a preference for doing the puzzle on paper!).
Generally liked the puzzle.
The SE played difficult for me. Had RIDE instead of FARE and did not know MII, which left that corner more or less orphaned from the rest of the puzzle ... I kept wanting something in Spanish for "Line around the Equator", like AY CALOR!, but nothing sensible fit. I considered but rejected CREEPO since it is very slangy, and it seemed like for that answer the clue should have quotes ("Slimeball", not Slimeball). It took me surprisingly long to get MIXTAPE, but once I did that corner opened up too.
Rex's "Shut up, puzzle" is one of the funniest quips I have seen from him.
So I guess GOAT YOGA is a real thing? I've seen (not heard) the term, and just assumed it was satirical. Duh! I should never make that assumption...
I know a corporate VP who has a plaque in his home office that reads, "When you're not the LEAD DOG, the view never changes." An incentive to keep climbing the ladder, I guess.
Hooboy, the current stuff nearly did me on today. First we have the dreaded “5 Puzzle Grid” issue. Just seeing that along side the (for me) dreaded Billy Bratton byline and I am up to make another pot of coffee before I even start the solve. Don’t get me wrong, I’M CALM, but steeled for battle.
Billy, I respect and revere you. Wasn’t it back in ‘22 that you’d already had a few (4 or 5 even?) puzzles accepted by the NYT and you not even 21? That’s just so impressive! And here you are again with all the things I don’t know. Well, my favorite thing about “cruciverbaling” is learning things so trepidation or not, I dive in.
And am not disappointed. Challenged for sure. The NW challenged me just to get in, but one of my favorite things about young Mr. B is his clever yet fair crossings that always seem to drop little Hansel- and Gretel-like breadcrumbs.
Thank goodness! I was 100% blank on Acrosses until LEAN and MRS (I have MRS Meyers Clean Day products in my kitchen and bathroom) fell right in. Well, I wasn’t certain about LEAN but needed something, darn it! The Downs were a huge help, although I thought Jacob for the prevent boys name. Once I had I’M CALM, NEATER and TESLAS, I was A-OK in the NW. I did wish for cats instead of RUGS and only because it was a Billy Bratton puzzle, I briefly thought a sty was a “gross home” for a nanosecond- but the ? quickly sent me to NPR.
The big center diamond was a delight! That’s all I can say. Mr. B, your craft has grown with you and this was such fun. Keep ‘em coming!
Now that I know that goat yoga is a thing that exists, the world seems like a slightly worse place than it did when I got up this morning. Thanks, puzzle.
Ha!
I was cruising along until I got to the SE, where I screeched to a complete halt. That entire corner was outside of my wheelhice: MII, SAMESIES (?), FISTS (as clued), CREEPO (don’t people just say "creep"?) and IT’S HOT (dumb clue, dumber answer).
I did like the clues for SIREN and TEXT, and I fondly remember when I hade my cherished MIX TAPE(s) which I played for years until they were completely destroyed by an evil, possessed cassette player in college. But those weren’t enough to bail me out, resulting in a DNF.
What’s all this hooha about the Northern Lights?
I’m in the Land of the Midnight Sun! (Wait, it’s only noon? My circadian rhythms are DoggiESSALAAMed!)
The Jaws of themelessness are back -- in quadruplication! Like.
Filled in the NW area fairly smoothly, but then was left with the SA+ start to some mysterious amnesia-gal sitcom, to link m&e with the rest of the puz. Sooo … lost many precious nanoseconds, tryin to re-boot the solvequest.
Overall, an entertainin SatPuz, as SatPuzs go. But with it bein only a 66-worder, I correctly predicted that the U-count and high-scrabble-scorin letters would be somewhat meager.
staff weeject pick: PCP. Hard one to get, at our house. Stands for Primo Cryptic Physician, or somesuch.
other fave stuff: GOTTHESHAFT BATTLESCARS. IWOULDNT. MIXTAPE. ITSHOT clue. TATAS clue.
no-knows included: TANTRIC. ALDO. ETHAN [M&A fave boys name: IGOR]. GOATYOGA. SAMANTHAWHO? [indeed].
Thanx for the fun, Mr. Bratton dude. Nice job.
Masked & Anonymo2Us
**gruntz**
Not familiar with GOAT YOGA but I'm betting there are no actual GOATs involved. When I was a kid long ago in the previous century, our neighbors had some GOATS. What I remember most about them was that they were awful SMELLERS with an odor like a mix of ammonia and funky gym shoes that are TOO OLD. Pee-ew!
I think "She got the gold mine and I GOT THE SHAFT" is an all time great song title with its double riff on SHAFT. Jerry Reed's performance that Rex links to is a cross of a stand-up comedy routine and a country music song. There's another connection to today's grid in the opening lines:
Well, I guess it was back in sixty-three
When eatin' my cookin' got the better of me
So I asked this little girl I was goin' with
To be my wife
Well, she said she would
So I said, "I do"
But I'd-a said "I WOULDN'T" if I'd-a just knew
How sayin' "I do" was gonna screw up all of my life
That is very cool that Christina Applegate is/was reading this blog! I saw her on Broadway in Sweet Charity, and she was very charming and very talented. I'm sorry she's had health problems recently, and I wish her the best.
Rex was nicer than I thought he would be about ITSHOT, IMCALM and similar entries that aren't really part of the language but I guess filled in squares nicely for the constructor.
Reading today's comments has been delightful.
surprised to see nothing about 8D… am I crazy or shouldn’t “place left of units” be “ones,” not TENS?!
Wouldn't it be sleaze? Or is a sleazy person a sleeze?
Thanks a lot, New York Times. I've been a subscriber for many years, and because of a "geomagnetic" accident I can't access your puzzle until late Saturday. I'm 80% done with it, and suddenly I can only access Sunday's puzzle. I expect a rebate.
Really disagreeing with Rex this week. Yesterday was an impeccable grid, with zero bs. Very rarely seen. I didn't see anything wrong with SMELLERS, just thought it was amusing. Today... "the center is the highlight"? LITTLETHING.. TOTALASSETS.. absolutely sparkling entries! IMCALM.. so IMWARM, IMITCHY, IMBALD coming soon? CHA? Despise those [The {random sports team}s, on scoreboards] clues. But a great way to keep three random letters you needed to finish your grid, vs, actually cleaning it up. Construction-wise, massive cheat with grid subdivided by big ugly staircases... puzzle looks like it belongs in a kids puzzle book vs. NYT. So Rex says it's his least favorite grid style, and he likes flow, but... nice puzzle! S[cratching]MDH.
@kitshef -- Yeah, Terry Gross, host of "Fresh Air", is real obscure, she's only been at NPR for 49 years....
@andrew (1:13) Certainly sounds like an outstanding organization, very deserving of your rave review. There are several dedicated rescue/foster groups in my area which I support financially. I fostered once, a bonded pair of terriers whose elderly owner had died, and it was a success in that they were later adopted together. Rescue pets are not for everyone, but for those of us who have a kinship with them - as you are finding out - it can be extremely rewarding.
@dgd (1:15) You make an excellent point about the ways in which the blog sometimes opens our eyes to certain things around us. Like you, I had never heard of MRS Myers cleaning products; however much to my great surprise, I now know my local Walmart carries them.
I always find it so interesting seeing what clues are harder for men than for women. MRS and ETHAN were almost instant fills for me.
Relax. Lots of people liked this puzzle. You’ll be ok.
I believe an aspect of the ATLAS clue may have gone overlooked by many. Although the clue describes the bone, it is worded in such a way as to suggest Atlas holding up the world, which I assume is what the bone is named after.
My subconscious was clearly working, because I filled in CHRISTINA WHO. I didn’t even realize why I had done it until I read your column!
[Monday] I did Friday's puzzle after a full-day's drive. Now I'm home after the drive back. I unpacked, put away travel food, then solved this Saturday puzzle. LITTLE THINGs didn't bother me any more than they did Rex. I'M CALM.
Now on to Sunday.
Tantric?
Would someone explain 45 down? Kinda surprised Rex let that one go.
To Gambolin’ Man @ 10:02 AM
The phrase is “Si ELLE lit ELLE lit ELLE. ELLE is a fashion magazine and also the French pronoun for she. So it translates as: If she reads, she reads she (ELLE)..
For anyone who might care - @rondo will be on a road trip to Maine and back until well after the 4th of July, so little to no participation for a while.
@D,LIW and @teedmn - I have somehow lost @teed's email address. Could one or both of you send me an email so I'll have it again? Thanks.
Adios for now.
@M&A: I think it's Personal Care Provider. Or some such.
I almost had my butt scuttled in the NW. For Gross home I put in STY; that's about as gross a home as I can think of. This fit nicely with CATALYST, surely a quick way to make dough! Now if only MEETUTS were a thing! But I had to dig it all out, and eventually came up with something that worked all the way around.
Have to admit I was guessing wildly at every turn, surprised when they actually worked. (For a while, I thought 50a was "SURPRISE!" instead of that baby-talk answer.)
Agreed that it seemed like five puzzles, the way it was segmented. Full-on hard, no "medium" about it. Soon I'll be TOOOLD for this. Birdie.
Wordle eagle!
I’ve seen photos of goat yoga. Yes. Goats participate.
Units = ones
SEXT MEETUPS
INTERN DON said SAMANTHA is HOT
and THAT she GOTTHESHAFT quite a LOT,
"THE STYLE of SIRENs I sing
TOO GRAB THAT LITTLETHING,
and see WHO's TOOOLD for what I GOT."
--- MRS. ELLE TESLA
Wordle eagle!!! 2 days in a row.
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