Backpedaling qualifier / FRI 6-7-24 / Eponym of a popular vodka brand / Massachusetts college specializing in engineering / Feature of many haute couture dresses / Craze of late-2000s politics / Legendary figure whose first name sounds like something he's known for doing /

Friday, June 7, 2024

Constructor: Alice Liang and Christina Iverson

Relative difficulty: Medium


THEME: none 

Word of the Day: TRIPLE SEC (9D: Ingredient in a Long Island iced tea) —

Triple sec is an orange-flavoured liqueur that originated in France. It usually contains 20–40% alcohol by volume.

Triple sec is rarely consumed neat, but is used in preparing many mixed drinks such as margaritascosmopolitanssidecarsLong Island iced teas, and mai tais. // 

The origin of the name "triple sec" is disputed. The term is French and composed of triple, with the same meaning as in English, and sec, the French word for "dry". Some sources claim it comes from a triple distillation process used to create the liqueur, but others say that a triple distillation is not used. Cointreau, a brand of triple sec, is reported to have invented the term based on the three types of orange peels used in the liqueur, although other reports have Cointreau claim the triple to mean "three times the flavour of Curaçaos." (wikipedia)
• • •

I'll start with the only thing I really didn't love, and sadly it was the very last answer I filled in: OBAMANIA (33D: Craze of late-2000s politics). Now I was there, I remember the mania, but this word ... I mean, say it to yourself. How ... how do you say it? You can't say OH-buh-mania because that's not where the stress in his name goes, but you can't pronounce his name the way you're supposed to or you end up with a word that rhymes with "gonorrhea." I guess you have to hard-hit each and every one of the first *three* syllables for it to come out like anything anyone would understand coming out of your mouth, whereas OBAMAMANIA fairly trips off the tongue. It's got that "MAMAMAMAMA" string that makes it fun to say. Also, when I google ["OBAMANIA"] the first, and I mean very first, hit I get is to the Collins Dictionary, and it's an entry for the extra "MA" version: OBAMAMANIA. Now I can see very well that OBAMANIA is an accepted variant—I'm just saying I *hate* it. My ears hate it. My sense of lexical beauty and cadence and mellifluousness hates it. The one thing I love about it is that it's juxtaposed with SATANISM. Have fun with that one, you racist/birther/conspiracy theory-addled f*ckwits. I wish I could buy a record where the ALBUM ART featured an orgy of OBAMANIA and SATANISM. That would rock.


But before I hit that (to my ears) clunker of a final answer, I was having as good a time as I've had with a themeless (and a Friday in particular) in a long while. I actually had to work a bit to make answers appear, and my work routinely felt like it was properly rewarded. Love to struggle and then get the answer and go "oh, cool" (rather than "oh, bad," which is, obviously, worse). My first smile came with WINE GRAPE—back to the bar! (see yesterday's alcohol-heavy puzzle). It's a nice phrase, well disguised by what appears to be a geography clue (4D: Muscat, for one) (Muscat is the capital of that popular crossword destination, OMAN). But after WINE GRAPE I was left with BARG- as the answer to 23A: Quarters, e.g. and man I was stumped. "Quarters" are coins, "Quarters" are a living space, "Quarters" are segments of a football game (or anything, really) ... but the only thing I could get out of BARG- was BARGAIN or, I dunno, BARGLES (is that a word? I think I'm thinking (aptly) of "garbles"). My brain was doing that common thing of assuming the answer was one word. Bah. When I finally got it, I thought "neat trick. Clever." Though I don't think I know how to play the game. I just remember John Cusack's "dime for every quarter" con at the beginning of The Grifters, and I don't think that's a BAR GAME, strictly speaking:


"I DID INDEED!" is indeed smug, good clue (18A: Smug affirmative). The best clue, with probably my favorite answer of the day, was the one for the symmetrical counterpart to "I DID INDEED!"—50A: Backpedaling qualifier ("... IN A GOOD WAY"). There's something about the phrase "Backpedaling qualifier" that (unlike OBAMANIA) sounds great in my head, and just imagining the context where one might need to utter such a backpedaling qualifier made me laugh. "Your mom kinda looks like Sid Caesar ... IN A GOOD WAY!" 


The other answer besides BAR GAME that really challenged my parsing abilities was BIAS CUT (37A: Feature of many haute couture dresses). Again, I thought I was dealing with a single word, and after FIASCOS didn't pan out, I was out of answers to fit the letter patterns. Turns out the solution was, once again, two words and not one. I went from thinking "who the hell has ever heard of this fashion term ... MIASCUS or DIASCUM or whatever it is!!?" to "D'oh! BIAS! It's BIAS CUT ... OK, yeah, that's a thing I've at least heard of. You win again, puzzle." (and thanks, ROBIN HOOD, for the assist there—great clue on that answer too: 29D: Legendary figure whose first name sounds like something he's known for doing).


I had many single-letter problems today. CRAY before CRAW (1A: Lead-in to fish) and (as always) REMI before RAMI and SNARE before SNARL and OLEN before OLIN (52A: Massachusetts college specializing in engineering) (my daughter toured that school back when she thought engineering was the way to go, but today I convinced myself that OLIN was a name that belonged solely to actors Lena and Ken and OLEN must be the college). The OL-N family of answers is crowded and confusing:
O-LAN used to be a staple of crossword grids, but time and constructing software have not been kind: 47 appearances in the modern area, but only four in the last decade. OLON and OLUN, meanwhile, remain mythical.

[SATANISM!]

Bullets:
  • 12D: Litmus test of a chef's basic culinary skills (OMELETTE) — I had -MEL- and wanted SMELL TEST (nevermind that it didn't fit, and that "test" was already in the clue)
  • 26D: Green party figure, for short? (ST. PAT) — it's a good clue. Somehow bugs me that "figure" gets used in this clue and the clue immediately following it (29D: Legendary figure etc.). Also bugs me (slightly) that "triple" is in the ITO clue (27A: First woman to land a triple axel in major competition) when it's clearly, ostentatiously in the grid (TRIPLE SEC).
  • 47D: "Is the pope Catholic?!" ("UH, YES!") — I have mixed feelings about the "UH / OH" genre of answer, especially now that the number of such answers seems to be getting out of control. You've got two of them crossing here today, with "UH, YES!" cutting through "OH HELL NO!" and I can hear both of today's phrases perfectly fine in my head but especially when you throw "UM" in the mix it can be very hard to know which two-letter sound the speaker is opening with. "UH, YES!" is kinda pushing the boundaries of feasibility.
  • 22A: "I love mankind ... it's ___ I can't stand": Linus from "Peanuts" ("PEOPLE") — normally not a big fan of fill-in-the-blank quotation clues. Normally. ❤️

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

82 comments:

Prefab 5:58 AM  

If your puzzle has TRIPLE SEC, BEERS, TITO clued as a vodka, and BAR GAME crossing WINE GRAPE, you _might_ be an alcoholic. Still, I enjoyed solving this one and finished in average time.

puzzlehoarder 6:48 AM  

A little above average due to a slow start up north. In the NW I had RAMI, UDON, RADIAN and SNARL but still couldn't fill that section in. In the middle all I had was RED. Luckily I'm a Chicagoan so DEEPDISH went right in and the puzzle filled steadily clockwise from there.

Even with the slow start solving this was a romp compared to yesterday's SB. I really had to work for that one.

yd -0. QB54

Rony Vardi 6:58 AM  

Loved the puzzle, loved the write up.

RS 7:02 AM  

I'm either getting better at the crossword, or every day is easier in the new era (after a horrifically rough start). I think both, TBH.

D 7:05 AM  

I used to be an alcoholic, indicated by my putting in VLAD instead of TITO. Hahaha. So glad those days are long gone.

Loved this puzzle!

jb129 7:09 AM  

I just read the beginning of your review, Rex (usually just your rating but this time went a little bit further because of the mention of OBAMA. Then I stopped because then I'll know the answers.....

Just wanted to say LOVED F---WITS!
Later :)

kitshef 7:19 AM  

Fairly challenging Friday. Cooking a meal is somehow an act of love? Am I missing something there?

In a puzzle I'm currently working on I decided I had to get rid of ITO because both Judge ITO and Midori ITO are too dated. Apparently, I was wrong.

SHell before SHArK before SHACK. CRAy before CRAW.

TITO's is apparently the best-selling vodka in the US - - yet I've never heard of it.

Buffalo Sabres fans know all about SATANISM.

SouthsideJohnny 7:20 AM  

Saw DEEP DISH right away and kept looking for where the “pizza” would go. Oh well, Chi-town is not for me - I respect all of you denizens who brave it out there - I’m more of a Florida guy (and O’Hare is a living nightmare). It takes a special type of toughness to live in and enjoy Chicago. I have several friends who live there and (inexplicably) they love it.

Not surprisingly, I took an O-fer on the popular culture on a Friday - no clue on the AUDRE, RAMI, CALEB, AMONRA, the Alicia Keys song (even though I have seen her perform live), the BAR GAME, and even the world’s largest SEED. Just call me the PPP whiz kid (well, maybe not).

On the positive side, OMELETTE dropped right in (note - high end chefs are also frequently asked to make scrambled eggs during their audition as well). I also got the SOAP BOX grid-spanner without an abundance of crosses which was pretty cool for a change.

I enjoyed OFL’s riff on pronouncing the OBAMA-ism. I had to laugh because there’s probably about a half dozen things on any given day that would give me trouble - I would probably butcher SURFEIT today for example.

Bob Mills 7:26 AM  

Found most of it easy by Friday standards. But the NW was impossible; I needed to cheat twice to get AMONRA and UDON.

Lewis 7:28 AM  

Was this a capital-P Puzzle for me? Oh, heck yes. Did I scratch, claw, and hack my way through this? I DID INDEED. Was this a pleasure? Oh, heck yes.

Loveliness appearing throughout – SOAP BOX PREACHER, DOFFS, SURFEIT, IN A GOOD WAY, ACT OF LOVE, even SIDE DOOR.

Clues that brought a popped-the-piñata feeling when finally cracked, my favorite being [Green party figure] for ST PAT.

Commonly-known phrases amazingly never before seen in the 80 years of the NYT puzzle: BAR GAME, MINE CART, WNE GRAPE.

The overall lack of same-old same-old. And afterward, perusing the filled in grid – a 68-worder with fewer black squares than a typical Saturday – bereft of junk, vibrating with loveliness. That is, a capital-P puzzle imbued with capital-B beauty.

I liked seeing the SEED/NEED/DEED triad in the NE. I liked how DEMI reminded me of “hemi” and “semi”, and then, out of nowhere, my brain roared “Hemi demi semi quaver!” – something it hasn’t recalled in many a decade since I learned in musical training that it was a fancy term for a 64th note.

Ah, a feast, a full plate, the surfeit of pleasure only found in Crosslandia. Christina and Alice, you know what? You two click, and how about some more? Thank you for a splendid outing!

Son Volt 7:35 AM  

Not as keen on this one as the big guy. It had some good moments - RADIAN, SUREFEIT and like Rex loved the Linus quote. But the overall cluing was obtuse and flat - tried too hard to be cute. OBAMANIA was not a thing and the ROBIN HOOD entry was fill in the blanks dense.

BEERS, Steers and Queers

The drinking vibe is real - thought the BEERS, ST PATS and TRIPLE SEC stack was cute. Backed into the BIAS CUT x AUDRE cross. Learned about the largest SEED.

Not on my wavelength - but a pleasant enough Friday morning solve.

Young Fresh FELLOWs

Anonymous 7:45 AM  

Everyone should google “coco de mer SEED” - it’s, uh, a very suggestive looking (and big!) seed…

Sir Hillary 7:54 AM  

Great puzzle! ACTOFLOVE, SURFEIT, IDIDINDEED, TRIPLESEC, SOAPBOXPREACHER, ROBINHOOD, BARGAME -- all superb, and that's just to name a handful.

The Linus quote clue is wonderful -- aware of its own contradiction.

WINEGRAPE took me way too long. For some reason, I associated Muscat with a place, perhaps thinking of Oman's capital. So I was looking for WINEregion or WINEarea or some such thing. Doh!

Recently saw "Hell's Kitchen", the Alicia Keys musical featuring "No One" and many other of her songs. Despite only a passing familiarity with her catalog, I loved the show. The three female leads are astonishing.

@Rex -- I hear you on OBAMANIA; it works better without the portmanteau. But consider this: having gotten the relatively easy (for me, at least) crosses TAB and NAMATH, I confidently dropped in teApArty, imagining as I did so your reaction to seeing that. Something including "f*ckwits", I'm sure!

Conrad 7:55 AM  


A BIT more Challenging than Medium for me. I don't have much to add, other than to echo (lightly edited) SouthsideJohnny: "No clue on the AUDRE (3D), RAMI (14A), CALEB (21D), AMONRA (3D), the Alicia Keys song (5D), the BAR GAME (23A), and even the world's largest SEED (26A)." Scratched my head for quite a while over OBAMANIA (33D) and WINE GRAPE (4D).

@kitshef: I think that while cooking a meal is not necessarily an ACT OF LOVE (31D), cooking for your partner almost always is.


Anonymous 8:04 AM  

This would have been a more rewarding Friday but for me the let down was some load-bearing clues that relied too heavily on sports knowledge…
I know nothing about sports but still happily manage the NXTXW every day despite the fact. That’s how good the crosses usually are, so when I bump on sports knowledge it really notices

Anonymous 8:18 AM  

Great cluing today, with smiles and aha moments abounding. Over average time due to stubborn lingering in the NW, for me a medium challenging solve ( but a fun one )

Dr.A 8:20 AM  

I had OH YES and clearly did know how to spell SURFEIT properly but it looked wrong enough to mess around with and finally finish! Good puzzle, very fun. Lots of proper names but common enough. I like but never heard of AMONRA St. Brown. Very fun way to clue that overused Egyptian God. And at least there is a definitive spelling in this case.

Niallhost 8:33 AM  

Once again ended my solve in the top middle of the grid after incorrectly putting I say INDEED instead of I DID INDEED and A tad before A BIT which made getting the rest of it tricky. Didn't fall into the CRAy trap because very few words start with "yi" and so knew it was CRAW from the get go which led me to WINE GRAPE. Also SNARe before SNARL but couldn't think of a person whose name ended in "eeb"(dweeb?) so was able to revise that one. humans before PEOPLE. Though the SOAP BOX person was some kind of tEACHER. Also raised an eyebrow at OBAMANIA - never heard it and was pretty clued in during that time. Otherwise a great Friday solve - challenging but doable. 27:36

pabloinnh 8:36 AM  

Printer problems this AM but when I finally got that straightened out, what a treat! The usual pop culture WOE's, but I did know AMONRA (not a name your forget once you've heard it) and the OMELETTE test, but the most fun was reading the clue about the "legendary figure" and thinking ROBINHOOD and there it was. Now I can go through the rest of my morning feeling kind of smart, but INAGOODWAY.

Didn't know TITO and TINT didn't feel right until I thought of TINTed glass one of those UHYES moments.

Helped to know that "coco" in Spanish is coconut. That's one big SEED.

Just a great Friday, AL and CI. A Lot of Chuckles Inserted into my morning, and thanks for all the fun.

andrew 8:37 AM  

Doesn’t like the sound of OBAMANIA (though says the answer is fine, his ears don’t like it), then descends into a “you racist/birther/conspiracy theory-addled f*ckwits“ tirade against half the country’s voters. He forgot the various “phobes” and during PRIDE Month! Shame! Do BETTER (at least in bringing us together).

Getting back to the puzzle, didn’t like the AMONRA/UDON or BIASCUT/AUDRE crosses. I’m a huge NFL fan and can’t remember AMONRA’s odd first name spelling (because I’m no doubt a racist f*ckwit).

Had NODUH for UHYES, which would have been a far better answer. OH, UM, UH are better as DOH, DUM, DUH.

Also had TEAPARTY for the dreadful to the ears OBAMANIA, though I LOVED OBAMA in 2007 and thought the Tea Partiers were nuts at the time. Seasons change and so do I, you need not wonder why…

(Anyone remember Danny Chung constantly bringing up CHUNGMANIA in VEEP? Best humblebrag of the series, topping even IDIDINDEED!)

SusanA 8:54 AM  

Like Anon 8:04, i stumbled on some key sports clues, even though I was all gushy over Joe NAMATH when he was a star lo those many years ago.
But after looking up a couple of things, I got a foothold, and was happy in my work. My experience was remarkably like Rex’s, so I especially enjoyed the write-up.
Difficult, misleading, but then nice a-ha moments.
Fun puzzle from Liang and Iverson, thank you!

Fun_CFO 9:01 AM  

One of those days where I agree almost completely with @Rex. First, had “era” for the OBAMA clue (OBAMAera, has appeared and it’s also bad), but quickly invalidated with crosses and was like no way! they’re not going with a portmanteau on “mania” here. Alas. And if I was ever forced to actually say that abomination, it would be the STD rhyming version.

ACTOFLOVE is fine fill, but that clue was overly vague without tinge of a “special” dinner. Cooking for partners is predominantly just an act of sustenance/ necessity. But fine.

Overall though, this was a very professional, clean, enjoyable Friday. Up there with better Fridays this year. Yes a little alcohol and sports heavy, all of which went in fairly easily for me, but certainly understand if folks take some exception. AUDRE was only WOE.

Will look forward to my evening cocktail, maybe a Long Island Iced Tea.



Gary Jugert 9:01 AM  

Too tough for me. Knowing none of the people sure didn't help me at all. Still a pleasant grid overall and grokking all those familiar phrases was kinda fun.

It's nice of them to recognize me in that center grid spanner. If you need to know anything, I'm here to help.

Propers: 7
Places: 1
Products: 7
Partials: 3
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 19 (28%)
Purposeful Funnyisms: 0 😫

Uniclues:

1 Those in charge of keeping abandoned underground railways operable for chase scenes in movies.
2 Pastry detritus needing vacuumed up from the after-party at the possession.
3 Wall decoration in Egyptian god's man cave.
4 What rich people become to divert attention from their alcoholism.
5 Memo to the Catholic church after too many felonies.
6 Pay extra fee at seedy massage parlor.
7 Me, as evidenced by m'belly.
8 The regrettable result of breakfast existing in a four-dimensional universe.

1 MINECART PEOPLE
2 SATANISM CRUMBS (~)
3 AMON-RA ALBUM ART
4 WINE GRAPE SAGES
5 PADRE AXING DUE
6 ADD ON ACT OF LOVE
7 DEEP DISH FELLOW
8 FINITE OMELETTE (~)

My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Slogan for a pansexual. ADORE ANY LOVE.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

RooMonster 9:03 AM  

Hey All !
An AMONRA appearance! AND clued as the football player. Awesome. My prediction came to pass. Now to get his brother in a puz, EQUANIMEOUS.

FWE with SolFEIT (isn't that a word? Hang on ... (Googs) ... apparently not.) No idea on AUDRE, and had oHYES, possibly aHYES, without UHYES being a possibility. Dang. SURFEIT is a WOE. It looks like it wants to be SURE FIT. Was part of a nice F cluster, though.

Tough puz that solved in spurts, but ultimately came in at a good time, as in solve time. Well, I guess it was a good time, also. 😁

@puzzlehoarder
Holy cow, you got QB YesterBee? Dang, I'm too embarrassed to say how many I missed. I didn't even get to Genius... Impressive streak.

Made it to Friday. These weeks seem to be getting faster. Has the universe changed recently, speeding up time? Har, sure seems like it

Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV

Sam 9:25 AM  

If you’re triggered by RP’s distaste for those who associate OBAMANIA with SATANISM that’s a *you* problem.

Gary Jugert 9:28 AM  

@andrew 8:37 AM
Figgered you'd be triggered, and you rarely disappoint. How's Diva? I like those posts. More puppy, less bumperstickerism. And um, it's LESS than half of the country's voters no matter how the felon does his math.

Laura Trump, RNC Chair 9:37 AM  

@Andrew - Never say the quiet part out loud. @Rex didn't say that all Republicans are "racist/birther/conspiracy theory-addled f*ckwits", just that racist/birther/conspiracy theory-addled f*ckwits exist. Why on earth did you have to go and admit all of us are to everyone? Why?

Masked and Anonymous 9:58 AM  

Nice themeless rodeo.

staff weeject pick [of only 4 choices]: ITO.

some faves: DEEPDISH. OMELETTE. TRIPLESEC. OHHELLNO. ACTOFLOVE. ROBINHOOD. IDIDINDEED. INAGOODWAY. UHYES clue. PEOPLE clue.
Lotsa good stuff!

But … Was kinda hopin for a deepdish-harder-than-SNOT themed FriPuz, after Thursday's ultra-E-Z puztheme. SNOT so. No fault of today's excellent constructioneers, tho.
They did sorta have a boozy semi-theme, anyhoos.

Thanx for gangin up on us, Ms. Liang & Ms. Iverson darlins. Nice job.

Masked & Anonymo5Us

p.s. Oho. More U's than weejects! Cool.


**gruntz**

Anonymous 10:00 AM  

Good puzzle and writeup.
I disagree on UHYES. OH is pondering or enlightened (as in Oh, of course). UM is unsure. UH is attention getting (as in, "Of course!!").

Nancy 10:03 AM  

Actually, I would have guessed the Naticky NW corner correctly if I'd taken the time and trouble to guess at the RAMI/AMONRA/MINECART (clued by a pop movie) cross. There was also AS I AM, which I did write in using my rule of thumb for all pop songs: I had ASI?? and picked the most mindless, obvious way to conclude it in order to end up with the most obvious, mindless title.

But I decided not to guess on the other stuff. My decision not to write anything at all into those three blank squares was my way of casting a protest vote about the actor, the athlete and the movie all squooshed together in one small area. Nor have I ever heard of the BAR GAME "Quarters".

I am also no fan of all the slangy expressions: OH HELL NO, UH YES, and I DID INDEED.

I had BI????T for the haut couture dress clue and thought of BIG SLIT. Happily I didn't write it in, but waited.

There's a "tsk tsk" hoggish implication in the clue "immoderate amount" that I don't think is accurate for SURFEIT. Sometimes a SURFEIT is prudent, not immoderate. Bringing a SURFEIT of water for your drive through the Sahara Desert might not be a bad idea.

This puzzle made me work, but not IN A GOOD WAY. It was much too bent on baffling me with tiny bits of trivial information rather than wordplay and cleverness. Had I guessed at the three squares I left blank in the NE corner, btw, I would have been correct. But I left them blank in what I regard as a protest vote -- or perhaps a cry in the wilderness -- against ephemeral trivia.

EasyEd 10:13 AM  

This was a tough one for me but overall enjoyed the tussle. Had to cheat on the BIASCUT/AUDRE cross, and took forever to move from dead(fish) to blow to CRAW. Then it all fell into place with one cross helping the other bit by bit. AMONRA was a fun find. So was finding that Muscat referred to the wine grape and not an Arabic location.

Whatsername 10:17 AM  

Wonderful Friday!! Very low on the name/trivia scale and none of them too tough. I wanted PAN PIZZA instead of DEEP DISH but with either one, I’d LOVE take a nice glass of my favorite muscat GRAPE WINE. Hand up for hating OBAMANIA - OH HELL NO! But all was forgiven IN A GOOD WAY thanks to big Willie Joe NAMATH. One of the first NFL events I ever attended was Kansas City playing the New York Jets at a brand new Arrowhead Stadium. I spent most of the GAME watching his iconic number 12 jersey, even when he was on the sidelines.

@anonymous (7:45) “everyone should google a coco de mer SEED.” I DID, and it is INDEED!

mathgent 10:26 AM  

Enjoyed it. Some fresh cluing, a bit of sparkle (SOAPBOXPREACHER), and only four threes (fewest in months). Tolerated the junk (OHHELLNO, UHYES).

floatingboy 10:30 AM  

Felt like a Saturday.

Anonymous 10:31 AM  

Grrrreat puzzle!!! Challenging…”but in a good way!”

Newboy 10:39 AM  

OH HELL yes!

Good fun in the solve & excellent commentariat responses to tie back into OFL’s tirade of the day, STONES to die for and the usual lineup of obscure players. I DID INDEED enjoy the many triggers to memories of MINE CART chases, ROBIN HOOD robbing and OBAMANIA (hand up for era), etc.


Nice work by this duo with Christina joining Alice in yet another collaboration.

jae 10:46 AM  

On the tough side for me.

NW problems - AMONRA, ASIAM, and BAR GAME (liars poker yes, quarters no) were WOEs, plus tram before CART and a tough clue for PADRE.

NE problem - sEMI before DEMI.

Center problems - tough clues for BEERS and ST PAT.

SE problem - OLIN was a WOE.

SW problem - SeerS before SAGES

Very smooth with SURFEIT of sparkle and crunch, liked it a bunch.

dragoo 10:53 AM  

I've read that one of Charles M. Schultz's favorite authors was Dostoevsky, which might explain what influenced the Linus quotation. Ivan Karamazov, the modern, free-thinking one of the Brothers Karamazov had this to say:

"The more I love humanity in general the less I love man in particular."

And he explained himself further:

"In my dreams, I often make plans for the service of humanity, and perhaps I might actually face crucifixion if it were suddenly necessary. Yet I am incapable of living in the same room with anyone for two days together. I know from experience. As soon as anyone is near me, his personality disturbs me and restricts my freedom. In twenty-four hours I begin to hate the best of men: one because he’s too long over his dinner, another because he has a cold and keeps on blowing his nose. I become hostile to people the moment they come close to me. But it has always happened that the more I hate men individually the more I love humanity."

Liveprof 11:04 AM  

When a "security question" is "favorite athlete" I always use Joe NAMATH. It's been a very tough life as a Jets fan, but we'll always have Broadway Joe.

I heard him explain his famous "boast" that the Jets were going to beat the heavily favored Colts during the week preceding their Super Bowl. He had just come out of reviewing films and based on them he determined that his receivers should be able to get behind the Colt defenders. Once he saw that, he was simply stating his assessment: We're going to win.

Charles 11:10 AM  

Can someone explain PADRE?

andrew 11:13 AM  

Hey, Gary J, Lara T and anon - you’ve barking up the wrong tree.

I’M the moderate here - Diva is the RABID Trumpster! She even has formed the “Chi Potty” (a Tea Party pun which I told her may go over many heads of her small-minded contemporaries).

Diva and I disagree about many things, including the size of the wall she’s always yapping about. She doggedly asserts that anything higher than 12 inches is just another example of government overreach. I say no wall will be effective at that HGT but she’s like a dog with a bone.

So if I’m forced to talk only about Diva, beware of the dog’s views. It may give you paws…

andrew 11:20 AM  

Hey @Liveprof 11:04

Just curious. While we’re talking security questions…

What was the NAMATH your first pet?
Your mother’s maiden NAMATH was what?

No reason, just want to CAPTCHA your online presence!

Liveprof 11:32 AM  

When my son Sam was a student at UMich in Ann Arbor, the Jets made it to the AFC Championship game. If they could beat Peyton Manning's Colts in Indianapolis on Sunday, they'd be in the Super Bowl.

It's "only" a four-hour drive from AA to Indy. I went onto Stubhub and found tix available for just around $100 each. It said "obstructed view," but so what -- you just lean your head a little and you can still see everything, right? So I called Sam and asked him if he had a lot to do for Monday at school. He said he had two midterms on Monday and a 25-page paper due that he hadn't started yet. I said, Great, so you're free for the game!

I borrowed my friend Michael's bright green #12 Joe Namath jersey and started my drive from NJ to Annie Arbor (9 or 10 hours) on Saturday. We'd leave for Indy Sunday morning.

There's a great Jewish deli near the stadium in Indy and we arrived in time to grab a sandwich there before kickoff. Perfect! Sam and I walked through the door -- me in my bright green Namath jersey --- and all at once about 150 guys all wearing blue Peyton Manning jerseys turned and glared at me. If looks could kill . . . Yikes! So I said to Sam: Maybe this wasn't the best idea. And Sam said: Are you talking to me, sir? I said --- Sam! You're forsaking your own father for a corned beef sandwich!! I've never been more proud of you!

TBH, everyone was very friendly to us -- they hate the Patriots more than the Jets. The Jets lost, of course.

BTW, the obstructed view seats were directly behind a very wide post -- we could no part of the field from the seats: nothing. D'oh! Our plan was to try to sit in an aisle on steps but, miraculously, several seats stayed open near us and we slipped into them for the whole game.


johnk 11:38 AM  

I first solved on a SW-to-NE BIAS CUT.

Last to go was the NW. I had TUNA/STAR and SOBA/UDON penciled in my head, never heard of the BAR GAME -- and MINE CART? But finally WINE GRAPE entered my head and whoosh!

ghostoflectricity 11:47 AM  

Very name-heavy.

Carola 11:59 AM  

A challenging Friday for me, and I enjoyed figuring it out. I was slowed down by 1) names and facts I didn't know (e.g., CALEB, SEED, FINITE. BAR GAME), 2) being too timid to write in answers I wasn't sure of (e.g., DEEP DISH, BLENDED), 3) failure to see easy clues until near the end (SAGES, OWNS), and 4) inability to guess the conversational answers without lots of crosses. The enjoyment came from repeated light-bulb moments when answers snapped into view, especially for IN A GOOD WAY and OUNCE. One small moment of triumph: guessingTRIPLE SEC from the C.

BIAS CUT led me to Memory Lane. When I was in high school, my mom and I were home-sewers at the amateur level. Unwisely, I attempted to make a prom dress from a Vogue pattern that was cut completely on the bias - and I had chosen some beautiful slinky, drape-y fabric. What a construction nightmare - which is all I remember. Did I ever wear the dress? Answer lost in the mists of time.

Liveprof 12:17 PM  

@Andrew -- you trying to get into my account??!! I have, like, $1.57 in there.

True story: I had to call the 800 number for the U.S. Treasury once because I got locked out of an account I had with a few savings bonds in it for the kids. So the woman asked me who my favorite author is (it was my first security question). I said -- darnit -- I forgot what I wrote down -- I have a few favorites. And she said (and I'm not kidding) -- he wrote "Goodbye, Columbus." She was giving me hints!! Philip Roth, of course! So much for the crack security system of the U.S Treasury.

Anonymous 12:23 PM  

A satisfying solve but it felt out of place for a Friday, much more Saturdayish including the feeling of being truly Saturday-stick at one point. It might be just a matter of wheelhouse/wavelength, though. BAR GAME, WINE GRAPE, DEEP DISH, MINECART as clued, TRIPLE SEC took many crossings. I had -IN—R—E and all I could see was GINGER ALE for WINE GRAPE.

GILL I. 12:32 PM  

Crikey....This was the hardest Friday i've not had any pleasure in solving. You start me off with a Malek actor then continue with some trigonometry unit and that sun god nickname. What's a girl to do? The names! All those names! A DEMI here then a memorable chase scene vehicle there, a BAR GAME named quarters and the beat goes on. About the only thing I liked was OH HELL NO.

This wasn't for me and I like just about everything. I thought the cluing was, well, difficult at best, and HELL, that clue for BIAS CUT made me go ugh.

Sorry.....especially to OBAMANIA.

jb129 12:54 PM  

I miss my Paper (edition)! I really, really hate when I spend more time finding my typo than doing the puzzle!

Thanks for what was a fun, if frustrating solve (for me), Alice & Christina :)

okanaganer 1:30 PM  

I guess it was a good puzzle but I spent quite some time untangling all my typeovers. I had Indiana Jones in a MINI CART race, which I couldn't visualize, and it was crossing Muscat which was a MINI STATE. Then I changed that to MINI GRAPE, which hung around for a while. Hands up for FIASCOS and CRAY fish too.

[Spelling Bee: Thurs currently -1 missing a 9er...yikes. Proud of myself for getting this beast of a 13er. puzzlehoarder, congrats on it and roaring past 50!]

Teedmn 1:49 PM  

Strangely enough, I had the same problem with OBAMANIA that Rex did. I tried to say it and it just didn't come out right. It's the same trouble I have when trying to say ignominy correctly (which I'm not sure I do.)

Hard puzzle today - the NW was a bear for me. I have no memory of the Indiana Jones movie, really wanted something "hoME" for quarters and couldn't decide if miso soup noodles were soba or UDON. I would have done much better if I had just finished reading the clue for 3D instead of stopping at NFL star and thinking "well I won't know that one".

Thanks, Alice and Christina, for the tough Friday!

Anonymous 2:25 PM  

I have to say that AMON RA - as clued - provides enough context to where you can guess it if you know anything of ancient Egyptian history. And I find it hard to believe that an Indiana Jones movie is too obscure for you? Surely simply by living on this planet you are familiar with Indiana Jones. Not sure that’s worthy of a “protest vote.” Just familiarize yourself with more pop culture…

Anonymous 2:29 PM  

Loved the cluing for AMON RA. No idea about the NFL player, but the cluing led me to thinking about Ra, the ancient Egyptian Sun god, which led me to Amon Ra, the pharaoh (Tut’s dad!) who changed the Egyptians to being monotheistic during his reign, worshipping only Ra. Great cluing to help with an obscure pop culture name.

Whatsername 3:21 PM  

@LiveProf (11:32) Great story! Wear your Jets jersey to KC's Arrowhead any time. You'll be welcomed with open arms and invited to eat tailgate BBQ. I read a news article once about a couple from Seattle who traveled there to watch the Seahawks play. They had so much fun that they went home and sold their house and moved to KC.

@Carola (11:59) Oh I remember those nightmare sewing projects! I used to make most of my clothes - even my wedding dress - but who has the time any more? Plus with the cost of fabric etc., not very economical either.

@GILL (12:32) It's Friday. Have a little drinkie-poo and feel better.



Anoa Bob 3:33 PM  

It's oh-BAHM-ah-knee-ah. Rolls right off the tongue.

@Charles (11:10), I thought the clue for 6D PADRE "God father?" was iffy. A Catholic priest is a "father" in English and PADRE in Spanish. The "God" part was, I think, an attempt to riff on the nonreligious "godfather", hence the "?" ADD ON.

Didn't rise to a OH HELL NO level but I did A BIT of a side eye to the clue "Lets breathe" for 28A AERATES. Lets breathe sounds more like reducing or stopping some action while AERATES implies being more active, as doing something like taking plugs out of lawn grass to improve air exposure or forcing pressurized air through a liquid. Per Merriam-Webster "The meaning of AERATE is to supply or impregnate (something, such as the soil or a liquid) with air."

Helped put myself through grad school by bartending part time. Yes, it had ice in it but we just called it Long Island Tea. It's for drinkers who want to get sh*tfaced fast. Took a while and some crossing help to dredge TRIPLE SEC out of the mists of time. I just remembered it as "Cointreau". Never heard of Quarters as a BAR GAME.

Anonymous 3:35 PM  

Tito's on the rocks with a wedge of lime is a great summer cooler!

Anonymous 3:41 PM  

“Though I don't think I know how to play the game. I just remember John Cusack's "dime for every quarter" con at the beginning of The Grifters, and I don't think that's a BAR GAME, strictly speaking:”

Usually too trashed to remember the exact rules, but… you bounce a quarter into a central low ball glass. If you miss you take a shot? If you get it in everyone else has to drink? Another version is to somehow roll the quarter down your nose? Anyway, definitely played quarters in high school (shhh!) and college.

Trina 3:41 PM  

PADRE is Spanish for FATHER. And also used as the Spanish word for priest/father. Hence “god father”.

Breakfast Tester 5:08 PM  



There was actually a TRIPLE use of "figure" if you include the clue at 32A "Figure of speech?"

If you don't know the bar game "quarters" think about it as the college dorm/fraternity game where you bounce a quarter into a glass. Does that help?

Speaking of "quarters" (and OBAMANIA), at 23A I confidently wrote in BARrAck.

🙃

Anonymous 5:50 PM  

i enjoyed the puzzle. i was not familiar with bias cut. rami and amonra was a natick for me.

Liveprof 5:59 PM  

@whatsername -- thanks! KC sounds great! especially for a Senior Swiftie like me.

Anonymous 6:03 PM  

"Not in a good way" reminds me of Chandler's wonderful line from "Friends": "I feel so violated -- and not in a good way."

Anonymous 6:39 PM  

Had exorcism for satanism

Burtonkd 6:48 PM  

@anoa bob - think back to your bar tender days, or maybe bars don’t care as much about wine as sommeliers, but you open red wine and let it breathe or aerate it. Pour it in the glass a little early or in a carafe. Both are active and passive. I guess I see your point, but it didn’t bother me.

dgd 6:50 PM  

Easy for me except for hard for me NW. Started with bloW which is a type of fish but much more obscure than CRAWfish! I stuck with I blow way too long. But eventually straightened the corner out. Surprised Rex didn’t complain about MINE CART because coal CART sounds better to my ears. But I assume it is a thing. Good trick clue for 20 across though. It got me for a while (hoME looked good until it didn’t).
Elsewhere there were even clues I never looked at because it went so fast.
Some surprisingly easy answers on a Friday
ABIT ABLE ADOS. ASTO AXING and EWES OWNS and SAGES. I keep finding more.
Monday level no?
Agree with Rex that OBAMANIA is hard to say!
Still as usual liked the puzzle.

GILL I. 6:54 PM  

@Whatsername....I actually had two drinkie poos last night before I started this. It didn't help much so I watched Gordon Ramsey instead!

Anonymous 6:56 PM  

Kitshef
I have heard of the idea that cooking for someone else is an act of love. I just looked it up. Lots of hits. So yes it is a thing.

dgd 7:16 PM  

About Andrew’s comment
I reread Rex’s so called tirade. He did NOT say he was talking about ALL of the pro Trump people out there. He said “racist, birthers, conspiracy theorists”. Now I understand that Andrew believes that white racism has magically disappeared in the US, but how can anyone possibly argue that birthers and other conspiracy theorists are not extremists. Rex was talking about extremism, not half the country. He does go off the deep end sometimes but not here.
What Gary Jugert said is exactly what I feel.

dgf 7:39 PM  

Nancy I thought was unusually harsh on this puzzle. About the AMON RA RAMI cross. I had absolutely no idea who the football player was but the nickname helped me get the answer, as Anonymous 2:25 mentioned. I thought that section was the only Friday level part of the puzzle. And in light of the nickname added to that clue, the section was fair on the other hand, Nancy has every right to ignore pop culture. There was a bit of a pile up of pop culture names in that corner also.

Baby in a Corner 8:03 PM  

I agree with Rex that OBAMANIA was never a thing, but Obama himself was wildly popular. He won 332 electoral votes in 2012 v Romney. His policies otoh were not very popular. During his presidency Democrats lost more than 1,000 seats in state legislatures, governorships, and U.S. Congress during Obama's eight years in office. This includes a net loss of 948 state legislative seats, which is the largest loss of Democratic seats during any presidency since at least 1921.

Anonymous 9:45 PM  

Amonra/rami?!

Anonymous 11:53 PM  

Not to pile on, but Rami Malek has won an Emmy and an Oscar for lead performances. If he is too obscure, we might as well blow up the whole idea of using any proper names at all…which I guess a few of you would like but would surely dilute the fun for most of us.

Anonymous 11:56 PM  

I think that was technically an AFL event, but I appreciate the reminiscence! :)

Anonymous 3:35 AM  

I remember Obamania being used in a jokey way on The Daily Show as one of their many over-the-shoulder puns - once. It was pretty obvious they'd thought it up themselves, and while I'm not American and thus not exposed to much of US culture in a general sense, that's the only time I heard it. I always thought it was a fun term that could have been used more widely but wasn't! So it's a surprise to see it here.

Anonymous 8:27 AM  

I agree with Rex and many others that OBAMANIA is dumb. What other type of MANIA cuts off the end of the prefix? IF OBAMANIA is correct, why not EGMANIA? TULIMANIA? MONMANIA? BTMANIA?

For the 'picture on a sleeve' clue, I stuck TAT in for the last three letters, assuming it was talking about that kind of sleeve (and the T in MATS 'confirmed' it); far worse, I had SHARK instead of SHACK for the beachside clue, which added a few minutes to my solve time as I knew something was off in that area but was convinced SHARK was correct.

And I agree with Anonymous 11:53 about RAMI Malek. Aside from appearing in the NYT crossword at least once a month, within the last 10 years: he's won Best Actor awards at the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes; played the lead villain in the most recent Bond movie; and had a supporting role in the highest-grossing film of 2023 (Oppenheimer). Fair game (esp. for a Friday puzzle)!

Burma Shave 12:10 PM  

PEOPLE NEED SAGES

UH,YES, that PREACHER’s A PADRE,
an AMUSING, DEEP FELLOW,
an OUNCE OF SATAN INAGOODWAY,
HE’LL ADDON, “OH,HELLNO!”

--- CALEB OLIN

spacecraft 1:14 PM  

Tough nut. One clue stood out as a "Huh?" Measure of regret? = OUNCE???? I mean, the crosses forced it, but wow, what a non-clue.

Also ABIT wobbly was SOAPBOXPREACHER. Okay, preach is ONE of the things than can be done on a soapbox, certainly not all. Clue seemed off.

I kept looking for the "s" at the end of "vehicle" in the Temple of Doom clue, sure that the answer was MINE CARs. That was why I couldn't get the central north till last. (had ItIsINDEED instead of IDIDINDEED.) Messed me all up.

It appears that Aristotle may have been right after all: most theorists now think the universe actually is FINITE. Fortunately, so was this puzzle. Tons of triumph points to ADDON (and no ADDONs in the fill!). Birdie.

Wordle par...but for a 21 Scrabble-count word, feels mighty like a birdie.

Anonymous 2:20 PM  

Pretty good. Keep ‘em coming.

Waxy in Montreal 4:22 PM  

@Spacey: 54A - as in not having even an OUNCE of regret about one's action. A better clue might have been been "Measure of prevention". Also, like you, I had itisINDEED which stuck in my CRAW forever.

CRUMBS, this wasn't easy though it did start INAGOODWAY with Joe NAMATH's #12 being a gimme at 48A leading to a quick solution of the SW. But ended with an utter SNARL in the NW with the much more recent NFLer AMON-RA a major woe. So was quarters as a BARGAME - guess I lived a sheltered youth. Also, SHORE before SHACK for ABIT too long. Finally, CALEB who?

APART from those, an AMUSING Friday puzzle. (DOFFS his hat to co-constructors Alice and Christina whilst opening the TRIPLESEC.)





Anonymous 5:23 PM  

College rec room: beer pong
In a bar: quarters

Anonymous 5:27 PM  

At first I wrote in Audra, as in McDonald. So I'm sure when Miss McDonald shows up next time, I'll write in Audre, as in Lorde.

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