Thursday, May 16, 2024

Repetitive clicking sound? / THU 5-16-24 / "Shirt Front and Fork" sculptor, 1922 / Michael Jackson's first concert tour after the Jackson 5 / Craft measured in cubits

Constructor: Sara Muchnick

Relative difficulty: Easy


THEME: "ALL FOR ONE" (and "one for all") (63A: When read forward and then backward, motto that suggests how to interpret this puzzle's starred clues) — in the starred clues, you have to change "all" to "one" (or vice versa) in order to make sense of the answer:

Theme answers:
  • "SOME NERVE!" (17A: *Gone) (=> Gall)
  • TOILET BRUSH (24A: *Stone tool) (=> Stall tool)
  • ICE CREAM (36A: *Scoop received in a call) (=> Scoop received in a cone)
  • SPARKLED (43A: *Shall) (=> Shone)
  • ROTARY JOINT (52A: *It gets the ball rolling) (=> It gets the bone rolling) (also known as a "pivot joint")
Word of the Day: BAD (31D: Michael Jackson's first concert tour after the Jackson 5) —

Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records. Written and recorded between 1985 and 1987, Bad was Jackson's third and final collaboration with the producer Quincy Jones. Jackson co-produced and composed all but two tracks, and adopted an edgier image and sound, departing from his signature groove-based style and falsetto. Bad incorporates poprockfunkR&Bdancesoul, and hard rock styles, and incorporated new recording technology, including digital synthesizers. The lyrical themes include media biasparanoiaracial profilingromanceself-improvement, and world peace. The album features appearances from Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder.

Nine singles were released, including a record-breaking five number ones: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana". Bad was promoted with the film Moonwalker (1988), which included the music videos for several Bad songs. The Bad tour, Jackson's first solo world tour, grossed $125 million (equivalent to $322 million in 2023), making it the highest-grossing solo concert tour of the 1980s. Jackson performed 123 concerts in 15 countries to an audience of 4.4 million. (wikipedia)

• • •

[20A: "Shirt Front and Fork" sculptor, 1922
(Jean ARP)]
This is a cute, simple, and reasonably elegant trick. I can't believe some constructor didn't think of it before. "ALL FOR ONE and one for all!" is the kind of expression that's just begging to be used as a revealer. It's the kind of thing you build a theme around. And ... yeah, that is exactly what has happened here. The trick is to get your swapped clues to sound like real clues. For instance, [*Tone tale] wouldn't work because what the hell is that? Yes, a swap would get you [Tall tale], and that might get you, say, FISH STORY, but the surface level of the clue has to make sense, and [*Tone tale] absolutely doesn't. If you used something like [*Tone tale], you'd give the game away fast, in that the solver would know instantly that there's some trickery happening with the clue words themselves, some swapping or rearranging that's going to have to happen to make things make sense. As it is, the only way you know trickery is afoot is that you can't get an answer that makes sense for the clue as written, and so you have to reason backward from the answer you do get, and that ... doesn't make sense. Not until you get to the revealer, anyway. Today's theme clues all seem like very normal clues—except for the stars (*) of course, which tell you something is going on. I don't like to jump to the revealer in a puzzle like this—feels like cheating. But when I couldn't figure out the gimmick after working through the first two themers, I sped down to the bottom, found the revealer, worked it out in very short order, and that was that—the trick was revealed (aha!), and the magic gall, I mean gone. At least it was a genuine aha. 


The puzzle was way, way too easy for a Thursday; this made the revealer very easy to get, and once the trick was revealed, there was nothing left to puzzle out. Everything got very straightforward. Sometimes you get the revealer but there's still work to be done, even when you know the trick—rebus squares you still gotta track down, or other mental gymnastics left to perform. But not today. Do the swap and poof, mystery puzzle becomes ordinary puzzle. Carriage back into pumpkin. But it was an impressive transformation, and fun while it lasted.


I had some issues with the cluing here and there, most notably on the first themer ("SOME NERVE!"), which only works as a spoken expression, right? I guess you could swap out "gall" and "SOME NERVE" in a hypothetical sentence ... OK ... "You've got SOME NERVE coming in here and telling me, Chef Luigi, how to cook lasagna!" I guess you could put "gall" in there and have it work. But "SOME NERVE!" feels more equivalent with "The gall!" They feel like equivalent standalone expressions, expressing shock that someone could be as rude or shameless as they're being. Actually maybe "the nerve!" is the standalone expression I'm hearing in my head the loudest. Anyway, something about the "SOME" in "SOME NERVE" is making me not like the answer as a one-to-one equivalency for mere "gall." Also didn't like SUIT as a singular "item" considering it's only the jacket part of the SUIT that has "tails," right? (28A: Tailored item that can have tails). The BAD clue is ... not good, in the sense that it's written without parallelism: the clue references his former group, but the answer is the name of a tour. His last tour (before BAD) was the Victory tour. Maybe "after leaving the Jackson 5" would've made things clearer, but "concert tour after the Jackson 5" makes it seem like "Jackson 5" is, itself, a tour. And it's not. The writing just seems sloppy here. I also balked at DOEST because isn't it DOST? Looks like both are archaic second person singulars of the verb "to do." DOEST is one of the few times the grid wanders into less than lovely territory with the fill (ENE, SMS, TOAT, etc.). Overall, it's reasonably clean. Not thrilled by the ISSA / ARP cross, but if you don't know one of those, then have you ever solved a crossword before? Olds are gonna nail ARP, and any recent solver's gonna know ISSA. Crosswordese generations collide!


Bullets:
  • 1A: Seabird's nesting spot (ISLE) — I had MAST. Pretty sure I read "nesting" as "resting."
  • 47A: Vegetable that's a letter off from an Ivy (KALE) — the lengths to which the NYTXW will go to mention Yale are hilarious. "Emergency! This puzzle doesn't yet mention Yale, what're we gonna do!?" "Uh ... well, KALE rhymes with Yale, so ..." "Genius! Yes! Run with it! Phew, crisis averted."
  • 67A: Where to find a very wet sponge (REEF) — my theory is that things that live their entire lives under water are not, in fact, wet. You can only be wet on land. In the ocean, you just ... are. This clue is speciesism, is what I'm saying.
  • 2D: Repetitive clicking sound? (SHORT I) — a letteral clue! (where the clue points at itself, specifically at a single letter in the clue—today, both the "I"s in "clicking"). This may be the only clue in the whole puzzle that rises to Thursday difficulty standards. Is the "I" in "ing" "short" though? Those two "I"s in "clicking" sound very different from one another, but I guess they both fall under the general category of "SHORT I." The two "I"s in "Repetitive" are actually more fitting examples. (More on the specifics of vowel length here)
  • 37D: Head of lettuce? (CFO) — the only thing the NYTXW likes more than Yale is trying to convince you that people still refer to money as "lettuce" (or KALE, actually, LOL)
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P.S. TOAT = “to a T

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

68 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:04 AM

    Never did smoke the revealer and so filled the themers largely from crosses. So a kinda like a themeless with missing clues for me, made it a little sporty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did like that 40A (Colorful kind of lettuce) crossed 37D (Head of lettuce?). Otherwise it was relatively easy for a Thursday and I enjoyed the theme quite a bit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anthony In TX6:53 AM

    I never really got the trick; just solved from the crosses. Seems like not *that* great or clever of a theme if you simply don't need it to complete the puzzle. Should have offered at least a little more resistance.
    Too simple for a Thursday and honestly left me pretty unsatisfied.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bob Mills6:55 AM

    Sollved it without cheating, thanks to a few lucky guesses. Didn't understand the theme until reading Rex Parker's column.

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  5. Anonymous7:04 AM

    Can someone please explain TOAT to me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:07 AM

      “To a T” (three words) https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/to%20a%20T

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:09 PM

      Well, JFC (three words).

      Delete
  6. I had a solve very similar to @anon 6:04. As Rex anticipated, I was one of those who discerned that “something was going on” with the starred clues, but never got the gimmick, even after filling in the reveal (I actually started trying to read and spell things backwards - obviously to no avail). So I played it as a themeless with unclued entries for the themers.

    It would be cool if Rex could toy with the concept of differentiating a “theme” from something more sinister, almost like a code or a key that needs to be unlocked or deciphered (I don’t want to use the term gimmick or stunt because they may carry a negative connotation). This puzzle didn’t so much have a theme, since very few could discern the “trick” without assistance from the reveal. With a true themed puzzle, it would be the other way around - the themed answers can stand alone and it’s up to the solver to try and discern what ties them all together (or maybe use the reveal as a hint to come up with that last stubborn theme entry that one is struggling with). Anyway - a concept for CrossWorld minds that are above my pay grade, but it seems to me that it would be a nice contribution to CrossWorld lexicon if someone could crack the code on that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:21 AM

      I like the idea of a code —a lot. It more accurately describes how I solve these types of puzzles. I learned to read by recognition. I am not sure that this was ever a method taught in schools but it is the method my older sisters used until I started school. It has served me well throughout the years except when I am trying to solve the type of puzzle offered today. I finished it but only by solving around the clues and then guessing at what is there. I guess my solve was kind of like the bumblebee—aerodynamically can not fly but does.

      Delete

  7. Easy-Medium for a Thursday. Mercifully no rebus and few if any WOEs.

    Most of my trouble was in the NE:
    5D: Advil before ALEVE
    9D: globe before ATLAS
    11D: stag before HART
    13D: pulp first and then rinD off the D in ROASTED before SEED
    16A: gRADE before TRADE, even though "grade secret" made no sense

    A couple of non-NE overwrites:
    37D: ell before CFO
    38A: frO before AGO

    ReplyDelete
  8. Andy Freude7:34 AM

    Saw the clue for the three-letter name of a musical collaborator, and without reading the album name went straight for the highly collaborative Brian eNO instead of the not-as-collaborative Yoko ONO. Yikes, the ENO/ONO kealoa!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:36 AM

      I did this, impulsively writing ENO before even realizing I actually knew the answer, one of my few xword reflex actions

      Delete
  9. Weird solve today. I generally read each clue until I find an entry, then work crosses from anything I already have. SHUN was my opener today, but then I kept getting a few short acrosses and a lot of downs, so that ALL FOR ONE was the eighteenth word entered, before I even saw the clues for most of the starred clues, which so the mystery was gone early.

    Pity the two ‘stag’ clues could not have been symmetrically placed … so close.

    I don’t think the clue for ROTARY JOINT quite works. If you turn your head left and right, is that ‘rolling’ it?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous7:42 AM

    I had BEN instead of BAD for a while… I was briefly impressed I knew that much about 70s solo MJ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_(Michael_Jackson_album)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Ben" makes me cry every time. It's such a beautiful and moving song. No, I'm not being sarcastic! Maybe it's a gay thing. Ben kinda reminds me of this really messed up alcoholic boyfriend I loved in the early 90s.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous7:42 AM

    Better cluing on 11D might have been Josh of the KNICKS!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan!

    About half my average solve time, but fun theme, very clever. Congrats on the debut, Sara Muchnick! Also for the debut of TOILETBRUSH, ehe.

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  13. Didn't get the trick until the very end with a good once-over of the entire puzzle (particularly ICECREAM), but still managed a near-PR time for a Thursday. It's clever enough, I suppose, and the fill was solid. No complaints.

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  14. Well, this is a constructor who loves wordplay, obvious to see in the word-manipulation theme and in the many first-rate punny clues.

    Some of those punny clues have been used before, but, IMO, were well chosen. Some of them were original, such as [Pounds, perhaps] for ACHES, and [Down more than] for OUTEAT. All of them had me smiling throughout the solve, and that is a gift.

    I filled in the entire grid except for the revealer, and wrenched my brain trying to crack what it could be, trying to see how the theme answers could relate to their clues. All to no avail. Finally, after uncle-ing, I had to bow down to the beauty of the conceit, to the wit of taking ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL, and first, seeing this theme, then second, beautifully executing it.

    I liked the duplicate [Stag] clues – could have had another duplicate by using [Carpenter or mason] for TRADE as well as for BUILDER.

    First thing I thought of after solving this was that I want to see more puzzles from you, Sara, with your love of wordplay and your ability to craft a terrific theme. Congratulations on your NYT debut, and I repeat, more please. I loved this!

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  15. For me this was easy in spots and hard in others. For some reason LUMPOFCOAL just wouldn’t come to me, also I hate “letteral clues” and SHORTI was a WOE. So the NE was hard. Also, I didn’t get the theme at all until I read Rex’s write-up, even though I realized it was something with ONEs and ALLs. Not my day!

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  16. David Grenier8:00 AM

    Even with ICE CREAM and ALL FOR ONE I still wasn’t getting the theme. I got SOME NERVE and TOILET BRUSH on crosses, with the idea that at least TOILET BRUSH was a tool. It was only once I had SPARK down that I finally figured out the theme!!

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  17. I liked this one! Very cute.

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  18. Anonymous8:14 AM

    Never understood the theme. Got the themers all from crosses.
    Aren’t Wednesdays and Thursdays getting too easy for Wednesdays and Thursdays while Fridays and Saturdays are getting way hard?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well, this is why 🦖 is an internet age treasure. I would go through the rest of my life having no idea how this theme works. I stared at it for ten minutes before saying, "Let's go to the boss." Oh! The alls and ones are in the clues, doh.

    Clever little puzzle.

    TOAT... OMG. SHORT I... GAH.

    Propers: 8
    Places: 1
    Products: 3
    Partials: 9
    Foreignisms: 1
    --
    Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 22 (29%)

    Tee-Hee: [Having a kink, maybe.] Ohhh, there's no maybe about it.

    Uniclues:

    1 Travails of big haired one on equatorial oceanic dot.
    2 The one I don't mind you getting on.
    3 Dessert for rock climbers.
    4 Fabulous U.
    5 Baldwin neck lettuce.
    6 Dessert for Italians with neck aches.
    7 Order a PB&J at the Hotel Bel-Air.
    8 "Yes Dear" deer.

    1 ISLE AFRO ACHES
    2 SOME LARGE NERVE (~)
    3 CRAG ICE CREAM
    4 SPARKLED TO A T
    5 ALEC KALE LEI
    6 ALEVE GELATO
    7 EAT JIFFY OUT (~)
    8 HART BEATEN DOWN

    My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Triumph for one keeping up with the Joneses. BOO-YAH ICE MAKER.

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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  20. Diane Joan8:38 AM

    It’s a good thing we have this blog. I solved this engaging puzzle with one small error (abs instead of ads) but couldn’t get the theme at all. Maybe it’s because I didn’t go to “Kale” and don’t have enough lettuce to be a “CFO”! I do “overeat” my greens though!

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  21. Off to a flying start with Crossword ISSA begetting ISLE and SHUN and LUMPOFCOAL, cruised down the west coast, then straight east, which led to ALLFORONE, which is a revealer that knows how to reveal. Back to SOMENERVE which was now obvious and filled in the rest of the themers just for fun. And that was that.

    How do you do, LIEV Schreiber. Can't say I've ever been to Asteroid City.

    Agree with OFL that this was an elegant trick but far too easy for a Thursday. Over too soon when you're enjoying yourself so much.

    Nicely done indeed, SM. Several More like this would be much appreciated. Congrats on the debut, and thanks for all the fun.

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  22. Hey All !
    TOAT, welcome back. It's been a minute. Now for OMOO to make a reappearance.

    Like Rex, and others I'm sure (no reading of comments before I post), couldn't figure out what in tarhooties was happening with the Themers until I figured out the Revealer. Aha, says I, I SEE NOW, you need to switch the ALL FOR ONE or the ONE FOR ALL. Still tough to get ROTARY JOINT, though. It gets the bone rolling? Technically, yes. But an odd visual.

    V fest (well, three anyway) in North Center. OUTEAT is kinda funny. Like a kids taunt, "I can OUT EAT you!" or "My dad could OUT EAT your dad."

    Easy ThursPuz. Works for me.

    Happy Thursday.

    Five F's (Not BAD 😁)
    RooMonster
    DarrinV

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  23. Oh, NOWISEE. Solved without getting the theme, made no sense of the themers, very clever after the fact. I think I'm not good usually at the "change things in the clue" type of theme, which is why I still remember the m=rn one which I actually got. I'll try to keep clue manipulation in mind henceforth.

    ReplyDelete
  24. @Conrad almost the same for me in the NE!
    Appreciate the explanation for TOAT. Also SHORTI. Even looking right at SHORT I, I kept thinking, “what clicking sound??”
    Thank goodness for this blog!

    My favourite Liev Schreiber movie is A Walk on the Moon. Just a delightful film.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I loved it! Loved, loved, loved it! Best Thursday in quite a while (but, tell us how you really feel, Doc).

    Yes, it was easy. Yes, lettuce is such an antiquated synonym for money, it’s older than I am (i.e., prehistoric).

    But the revealer is exactly what a great revealer is supposed to be: the key required to make the puzzle solvable. Once I solved that (my strategy with this genre of xword is, when the themed answers make no sense, head for the revealer), everything fell into place.

    I was quite pleased with this puzzle. And, I actually learned or a new, legit anatomic term (or maybe relearned it): ROTATORY JOINT (like the atlantoaxial joint, which I have long known can undergo ROTATORY subluxation or fixation in some cervical spine injuries).

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  26. Red leaf lettuce is colorful only in name. It’s probably 95% green!!
    Didn’t get theme til I read Rex. Cute theme.

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  27. Somehow missed that it was the clues that you needed to change, and boy was that baffling, even after solving the whole thing.

    ReplyDelete
  28. How do you go from tedious to "Ooooh I loved this!"....Shall I tell you?

    The puzzle made me think that this was like sitting in the middle seat of a plane that was already delayed. Then, and out of the blue, the flight attendant tells me I've been upgraded to first class. I have a very comfortable seat and I sip some free French Champagne. And that's how tedious became an ooooh love.

    I'm staring at SOME NERVE at 17A with its little asterisk. I stared too long and moved on. All the words coming down were like little gifts.... LUMP OF COAL and OVER RICE. You did your job.

    TOILET BRUSH....Why, do tell, are you a Stone tool? Fill in the surrounds. I'm chomping at the bit. What am I missing....Take a peek at the reveal; try to figure out that forward and backward motto; ALL FOR ONE? Is that you? Oh, good gravy, now I see what you did and I let out a squeal of delight.....Just like sipping some good bubbly in first class.

    I had one trouble: SHORT I at 2d. Then I had a malapop with the SOLO HART. Eeny meanie miney and moe. I guessed right! Finished up with DOEST EDDY and sat back and marveled at how this all came together.

    Yes, I loved this puzzle....I'll take seconds any day!




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  29. Repeat after me: When the answer to the clue makes no sense at all, the trick is in the clue.

    I was looking for the trick in the clue from the ONSET -- and though nearly maddened with curiosity, I took my own sweet time getting to the revealer. I had filled in SOME NERVE, TOILET BRUSH and SPARKLED and I wanted to figure out the trick for myself.

    I couldn't.

    And yet it's really such a simple one. Simple, but not obvious. I loved this and it will go in the running list I'm keeping for Puzzle of the Year.

    A brief note. Maybe a couple of years ago, I hit upon the idea for an ALL FOR ONE theme. In my case, the trick was in the answers and not in the clues. I came up with some ideas for themers and was crestfallen to learn that the theme had already been done.

    But it's another puzzle entirely when those words are swapped in the clues. This is so much better an idea. I love this variety of puzzle.

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  30. About a quarter of the way through I decided that I was not going to figure out the gimmick, but that if I just got a plausible answer from some crosses I could put it in and figure it out later. So there I went with SOME NERVE, TOOILET BRUSH, SPARKLED (had to check the crosses for the last letter), and ROTARY phone. Doh. I didn't have the crosses yet to check 'phone,' but what else could it be? Then I got the revealer, figured out that you had to read the words forward and back rather than the letters, and finally saw that it was a JOINT.

    I also spent a few minutes saying "i-i-i-i-i..." To see if it clicked. When you do that you hear a glottal stop between the letters, and I decided that was it. Quite a stretch. I had to read Rex. Ah, I SEE NOW!

    Couple of nits: world weary means you've seen it all and have lost interest, not that you are BEATEN DOWN. And cluing an abbreviation by an acronym is an abomination.

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  31. Congrats on your debut grid Sara. Like others I remained mystified by the? Clueing?? Totally clueless in fact, even though the puzzle had no empty squares left. Despite the very clearly articulated reveal, I NEVER LOOKED BACKWARD at the clue itself though I realized that the theme answers had neither ALL nor ONE available for manipulation. Nefarious and evil in some solver’s minds perhaps, but this old dog looks forward to seeing fresh ways of being flummoxed. Bravo ��

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  32. Well dang. Seems like I may be standing in the other corner again today. Not as enamored with this one as others seem to be.

    The reveal did its job and revealed what was going on with the seemingly nonsensical clue-answer pairs but I was left with a feeling that something was missing, something that would tie it all together, something that the theme answers or their original clues or both had in common, some reason why them and not other possible one=all=one combinations.

    But there's nothing else there that I can see. Those unaltered theme clues especially are just kind of hanging out there, twisting slowly in the wind. It all has a kind of arbitrary, disconnected vibe for me.

    DOEST this mean I'm going to get another LUMP OF COAL in my Christmas stocking again this year? Dang!

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  33. If I were the constructor, I would bag TOAT.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous10:56 AM

    I came here to learn that lettuce means money. Was so confused.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Easy no erasures and no WOEs. Another “ignore the theme and full speed ahead” puzzle, followed by figuring out what was going on post solve.

    Cute/clever idea with a great reveal, liked it.

    ReplyDelete
  36. EasyEd11:12 AM

    Like many it seems I solved this without a clue as to the theme, so thanks @Rex for being there…For some reason could not initially drag up ISSA from the brain, and was stuck it seemed forever with “globe” instead of ATLAS. Once these were solved, the rest came relatively quickly without knowing the actual theme. Not paying enough attention to the clues gets me every time…

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  37. Good morning, @Nancy! I was right with you from the ONSET. Seeing the clue-answer mismatch and looking at the clues for the first three theme answers, I first tried anagrams (not a lot you can do with "Gone,"), then letter substitutions...and came up with NIL I gave myself one more chance at SPARKLED, but couldn't see what to do with "Shall." Unfortunately, my "plan" that the reveal would allow me to get the last one with no crosses came to nothing, as the concept of a bone rolling was entirely foreign to me, and I had to get ROTARY JOINT from plenty of crosses. Sigh.

    Do I wish I were among the happy crew who came upon the reveal early and had the fun of using it? Not really - Thursday is the day when I really resist looking ahead at the reveal: It's all about figuring out the constructor's diabolical scheme. This one was too diabolical for me, but hats off to her for seeing the possibilities in that motto!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Started in the NW. When I hit the first theme, I skipped down to the SE and easily got the revealer, after which the puzzle was a cakewalk. Could have used some trickier or at least more interesting cluing for the fill to spice things up a bit.

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  39. Finished what seemed like a very easy Thursday without ever getting the theme. Then after having the theme explained. realized that made it even less of a challenge. So maybe not getting it was a good thing?

    While I love many of its relatives, I feel about KALE as Newman did about broccoli . . .  vile weed! I’ve also found that sprinkling it with olive oil makes it much easier to scrape into the garbage

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  40. Got stuck for a bit, but figured out the theme and thought I was in the clear......quickly realized I wasn't. CRAG?? TOAT?!? I also don't think of ACHES as a synonym for "pounds" but I'll allow it. Having EDDY and EDIE in the same puzzle is weird. OUT-EAT is just crazy. Anyways, silver lining is that the themer inspired me to rewatch HSM 2 later ☀

    ReplyDelete
  41. I guess I'm the only one who solved this as a themeless which I knew it couldn't be since it's Thursday - although, thank God, not a rebus. Came here to see what I completed.
    Oh, I SEE NOW.
    My only defense is that I'm dividing my time between the puzzle & the trial.
    Congrats on your debut, Sara :)

    ReplyDelete
  42. I say uh-uh to "rolling bone."

    ReplyDelete
  43. David Fucio1:09 PM

    My print version says constructor was Joel Fagliano.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @David Fucio1:09 PM My print version (NYT Replica Edition) says "Edited by Joel Fagliano" ... PUZZLE BY SARA MUCHNICK".

      Delete
  44. Wanna know how to feel young at age 70? Go to the Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds tour sponsored by AARP! I DOEST not kid you. I was one of the younger of the 75,000 boomers watching Mick strut his stuff in Seattle last night. I mean, if you're going to have AARP sponsor your tour, couldn't you make it a series of matinees? We got home at 1:15 am! But Mick still puts on a great show. Go if you get a chance.

    Some like their Nigiri OVERRICE. I take mine neat.

    I been BEATEN DOWN purty good. I seen hurt, I seen pain, ISEENOW!

    One thing you can be sure of. If Trump said something ELIDE.

    Really great conceit. Thanks and congrats on the debut, Sara Muchnick.



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  45. I had no idea what the trick was, and knew there must be a revealer somewhere, but resisted the urge to jump forward. So it was a nice aha! when it finally came into view. Pretty good Thursday theme.

    My sister gave me her old iPhone for Christmas, and I'm afraid I hate it. With my old Android phone, I could just connect the USB cord to my computer and create folders on the phone and copy any files I wanted... photos, music, videos, whatever. But with the iPhone... had to install ITUNES on the computer, and create a single folder on it, and sync the phone to the folder, and if I remove any files from the folder it will delete them from the phone... arrrgh.

    [Spelling Bee: Wed 0, streak 8 days.]

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  46. I thought this was perfect. Great Thursday. And just a perfect reveal, which, yes, I needed to get the themers.

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  47. Anonymous3:18 PM

    Easy, except the NW corner. Never enjoy when two names are crossed.

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  48. Enjoyed this puzzle, but was still puzzled by 2D after I solved it. Somehow I was looking for a sound in "repetitive" that clicked, rather than a sound in "clicking" that repeats. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

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  49. Finished this and had no idea what was going on. I knew it had some kind of ALL for ONE swap but I kept looking at the answers, not the clues. Strange experience! I found it hard at the time but in retrospect it was easy. Just took a while.

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  50. Can anyone please explain AFRO?

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  51. Anonymous9:56 AM

    Think Fela Kuti, King of "AFRO Beat"

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  52. A seed is unwelcome, perhaps, but not a "surprise" when you are drinking juice. A tadpole would be a surprise, a seed would not.

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  53. Anonymous10:57 AM

    I was stumped by this puzzle, so thanks for the explanation, but in your criticisms about sloppy writing, I take (gentle) issue with the comment about tails and suit, as both "tail suit" and "suit of tails" are in use, if a bit old-fashioned. Also "doest" is a Biblical word. Good ole King James.

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  54. Anonymous11:04 AM

    Thank you for explaining this puzzle, which stumped me until I read your write-up. But I would like to take gentle issue with your criticisms of "doest" ( it is in the good ole King James) and suit/tails. "Tail suit" and "suit of tails" are both in use---just Google --if a bit old-fashioned.

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  55. Anonymous6:18 PM

    Agree with Rex about the SHORT I's. "Clicking" is questionable since "-ing" in any word just comes out sounding like "eeng". (I was expecting a 15-comment cross-country heated debate on dialects.)

    But Rex, why in the heck would you even write in MAST for 1A? Didn't you notice the T is obviously wrong?? The only letters possible are N, E, W and S, right?

    Cool puzzle Sara!

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  56. Burma Shave10:32 PM

    BAD TRADE

    EDIE ain't ALLFORONE,
    she gets SOME ALL OVER town,
    ISLE ASK EDIE FOR fun,
    OVER and OUT, BEATENDOWN.

    --- ALEC HART

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  57. Burma Shave10:42 PM

    BAD TRADE

    EDIE ain't ALLFORONE,
    she gets SOME ALL OVER town,
    ISLE ASK EDIE FOR fun,
    OVER and OUT, BEATENDOWN.

    --- ALEC HART

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  58. Anonymous2:04 PM

    Okay, but I did not like ISR, IFS, IVS, ROI, CIN or ARP. Nor did I like OUTEAT, DOEST or SHORTI. I would have prefered to see the reverse of ALLFORONE i.e. ONEFORALL appear near the top of the grid while removing one of the “all” clues since there are three “all” clues but only two “one” clues.

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  59. Anonymous2:48 PM

    2D should have been clued “Repetitive sound?” without the clicking. Rex is right about the I sound in the ing of clicking. Simply dropping clicking corrects the cluing.

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  60. Hard till the gimmick is unearthed, then easy. I too sneaked down to the SE, and tried to read the line backward letter for letter instead of word for word. Silly me. Sorry, musketeers.

    You can take your [what a dachshund sees with] short i's and shove 'em. And all such long, short, soft, hard, and silent letters. Penalty shot.

    Otherwise the theme is clever, with a perfect revealer. Par.

    Wordle bogey.

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