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Relative difficulty: Medium
Word of the Day: ETHEL Barrymore (1D: Actress Barrymore with an eponymous Broadway theater) —
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for None but the Lonely Heart (1944). // She was the sister of actors John and Lionel Barrymore, the aunt of actor John Drew Barrymore and great-aunt of actress Drew Barrymore. She was a granddaughter of actress and theater manager Louisa Lane Drew and niece of Broadway matinée idol John Drew, Jr. and Vitagraph Studios stage and screen star Sidney Drew. (wikipedia)
[None But the Lonely Heart]
• • •
The thing about smooth puzzles like this is that when I hit a bump, it really Bumps. Whether it's me or the puzzle itself that is clunking, rough spots become very memorable. Some combination of me and the puzzle clunking simultaneously made the start of this solve very awkward. I should've just written in ETHEL, because come on, what other actress besides DREW has that name, but I had already decided that an "intaglio" involved the act of TILE-ing, not ETCHing, and I had also decided that Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana was a RANI (crossword reflex!). I maybe should've recognized the name as THAI, but that's the problem, that, the way I used "THAI" just there—I would only ever use that word as an adjective. "She's a THAI"? I'm sure that's valid, but it is not at all intuitive to my ears. If the clue had been [Like Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana], RANI (a noun) would've been out, as would all nouns, and so THAI would likely have come to me sooner. This is like cluing GERMAN as [Werner Herzog, e.g.]. I want GERMAN to be an adjective, even though I know that it can be a noun. Cluing THAI as a noun, while technically legal, felt very awkward. Anyway, I'm mostly embarrassed that my first response here placed the Queen in an entirely different country. At least RANI is, in fact, the equivalent of "Queen." That makes my error slightly less mortifying.
 |
| [my neighborhood THAI place] |
Couldn't remember what "intaglio" was, couldn't identify the nationality of a queen—that pretty much gummed up the works in the NW, but I just moved over to the N where I found a NUDE, who kindly helped me get some real traction, and from that point, the Whoosh began—across the NE and then back over to the NW and then down to the SW and finally up the IRISES and over to the NATO SUMMIT, finishing up with not Kea but LOA (52D: "Mahalo nui ___" (Hawaiian for "Thank you very much")). After the TILE / RANI fiasco of the NW, only a couple of places really stood out as ugly or troublesome. I would call the sweater type a "crewneck," so 31D: Works on a crew? (DARNS) just didn't land for me. Needed every single cross. [correction: you darn socks, obviously, so this is a crew sock, which I have really Really never heard called just a “crew”]. I also have never really heard the term STEAM TABLE (except, apparently, in the NYTXW back in '09. Sounds like something you'd find at a spa. I can picture one, I guess, but maybe the buffets I've been to of late have used sterno as a heating element? Not really a buffet enthusiast, to be honest. But STEAM TABLEs are very real things—just beyond my ken (and general vocabulary). I wouldn't say ORE comes in "pockets" (29D: Things in pockets that can be picked?) (I've always been told—by the crossword!—that ORE comes in "seams"), nor would I say that a bridge "runs across" a river, say (see clue for SPANS (25A: Runs across)), but both clues are obviously trying (very hard) to misdirect you, and they're both technically valid, so OK. Not sure why there's a "?" on the ORE clue except to say "hey look at me doing some really bad 'pickpocket' wordplay." Maybe this clue just wanted to do a little "pocket" callback to the CARGO PANTS clue (3D: They have deep pockets). The misdirection on [Runs across] is more sly. That clue obviously wants you to think "Runs across" as in "Meets" or "Encounters." Mission accomplished.
Notes:
- 17A: Gather together (HERD) — an additional factor in the whole opening NW wipe-out. I wanted REAP ... maybe MASS.
- 45A: Emulates Niobe (MOURNS) — she's so strongly associated with tears that after CRIES wouldn't fit, I was out of ideas. But MOURNS, sure, that is what occasions the crying.
["Like Niobe, all tears"]
- 49A: "Ew, ew, EW!" ("TMI!") — "Too Much Information"; a really great clue. You can really feel the "stop talking now!" energy.
- 10D: Pair making an appearance in the "Iliad"? (IOTAS)— a "letteral" clue, with the referent being the two (Greek) "I"s in the word "Iliad." ["Iliad" pair] (no question mark) would've been wickeder.
- 13D: Best Actress nominee in 1992 who won Best Supporting Actress in 2020 (DERN) — it says something (bad? telling?) about my pop culture brain that without looking I could name the 1992 movie in question (Rambling Rose) but not the 2020 one. I thought maybe Certain Women (wrong year) or else Little Women, but she wasn't nominated for that (Ronin and Pugh were). Did you know she was also in Dr. T and the Women (2000)? This means that there is (unofficially, but now also canonically) a Laura DERN "Women" trilogy. Anyway, DERN won her Oscar for playing a divorce lawyer in Marriage Story.
 |
| [DR. T has made 27 NYTXW appearances to date, mostly for this movie ... though occasionally also for the freaky Seussian musical fantasy, The 5000 Fingers of DR. T (1953)] |
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Loved the puzzle, as I always do a RW. My only comment: 31D (works on a crew), doesn’t this probably refer to a crew sock rather than a crew neck?
ReplyDeleteI've never quite understood the concept of whooshiness, but perhaps I do a little better after this work that I did feel was pulling me through, presenting distractions to enjoy along the way rather than barriers. As to 31D, I think the clue DARNS crew SOCKS rather than sweaters. And in that steam table the sterno heats up an outer pan full of water to make steam. The food goes in an inner pan heated by the steam so it does not burn.
ReplyDeleteI think you’re right but is that better?
DeletePossibly the wooshiest Friday I’ve ever experienced.
ReplyDeleteAn RW Friday. My prayers have been answered.
ReplyDeleteSuch a delightful puzzle! Two notes:
ReplyDeletea. I live in Thailand, and here you never refer to someone as "Thai" - or "A Thai.: Its certainly a noun at least in local usage. So for example you are about to meet someone and you always ask "is he or she Thai"? So the Queen's name (and of course I've seen it in print many times); made "Thai" the obvious answer.
Steam table is a very common term for buffets and diners and the like - at least for me! So that was an easy answer.
And I admired the way "Inside Job" was clued, too.
I don't know why Rex got so hung up on the THAI clue/answer. It's obvious to me that it's an adjective and reads as such.
DeleteQueen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana, e.g., is Thai.
Werner Herzog, e.g., is German.
Bill Gates, e.g., is wealthy.
Shaquille O'Neal, e.g., is tall.
I don't know why any of these would be problematic.
No. You are absolutely wrong. Clue is a noun since answer is a noun. Clue and answer are same part of speech always.
DeleteOkay then.
DeleteEasiest Friday in recent memory. Blew through it so fast, I barely noticed it, which is atypical and, frankly, less enjoyable. Hoping Saturday puts up more resistance and is substantively more memorable.
ReplyDeleteDidn't even have to see the by-line to know within less than a minute that this is a Robyn Weintraub puzzle - so distinctively wonderful and enjoyable are her puzzles.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, including the by-line almost seems redundant - like the clue for 17A.
Someday I'll whoosh thru a Friday but tracing my answers today would just look like some squiggly doodle as I bounced around getting little bits of traction here and there. But a pure joy to complete. Gone, at least, are the days when the long answers felt impossible, as a couple today were where I could actually get started, like DONTREMINDME and THATSTHESPOT. Just perfect. And all of the misdirects and think agains on the short answers were fun to untangle, yielding "ahs" and smiles, more than "ughs" and sighs, with maybe "Not in English, say" being my favorite. This one just rolled out one hit after another. Good looking, fresh, smart - am in love with today's. Thank you, Robyn.
ReplyDeleteAny day with a Robyn Weintraub puzzle is a great day, but an RW Friday is especially great. I loved every minute of this solve, even the clues that gave me agita instead of answers. (I'm talking to you, NATO SUMMIT/SOTOS!) I never feel like Robyn is out to get me and prove her superiority, as I do with some other constructors. She just wants me to have fun, and I always do.
ReplyDeleteSad that the NYT hasn't featured her puzzles for six months. Tells me pretty much everything I need to know about the new powers at NYTXW, and that isn't great. You can find Robyn at the New Yorker crossword pretty frequently, if you need your joy fix.
Rex, it's hard to believe that you've never encountered a STEAM TABLE! Your grade school cafeteria probably had them.
Let the weekend begin!
Awesome from Robyn as always. And I was very happy to see a non-kealoa clue for LOA. Didn’t know the Hawaiian phrase, but thrilled to learn something new instead of just saying “ugh”.
ReplyDeleteIt’s always fun when RW stops by for a visit - and six months is way too long. Don’t be such a stranger, Robyn.
ReplyDeleteI have to confess, I had a hard time getting connected, wavelength-wise today. The NE was pretty bumpy because I don’t know what intaglio means, hadn’t heard of the THAI lady, or the theater lady and still can’t remember ever hearing the lat machine called an ERG in a gym - so out of desperation I dropped in LEOPOLD for the conductor (because it seems like all conductors are named LEOPOLD - that’s really the only reason, just a wild guess).
I think my favorite clue was the one for ART DEGREE, with ABSENT from English class a close second. Wished you would have left out the Star Wars reference - and yes, that’s a bit hypocritical of me (Shakespeare, yes, Star Wars, no) - but heck, we get Star Wars references every day - would be nice to get a break from that stuff when RW drops by.
@SouthsideJohnny 7:14 AM
DeleteC'mon Johnny, we can hate the movies, but ya gotta love DEATH STAR in the grid. It looks groovy, and it's gotta be better than a strained clue from an unremarkable quote by Shakespeare's boyfriend of a 13-year-old girl.
enjoyed the tricky clues.
ReplyDeleteVery nice puzzle with little junk, and that junk mostly in the threes (ERG, SNO, LOA).
ReplyDeleteNECs for the day: SONOS, STEAM TABLE, PABLO.
THERES MORE feels lonely without “But wait!”.
Perfection. The worst thing I can say about it is that it played more Wednesday hard.
ReplyDeleteRW is one of the last constructors whom you can trust to use colloquialisms that have been spoken by an actual human in conversation with other humans. There’s something so gratifying about trusting a constructor enough that you can drop an answer in an uncrossed 10+, and this puzzle does it multiple times.
RWs cluing exists seamlessly in the realm of second and third alternative definitions - once you buy into the nuance it’s a pleasure. The medium length stuff is exceptional - TIMID, SMART, MOURNS, SLOOP etc. DARNS refers to socks.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyable Friday morning solve.
Whatcha Gonna Do
Great puzzle. Easy/medium for a Friday.
ReplyDeleteI know when I do one of Robyn’s puzzles I will light up with smiles. Her puzzles are gifts, filled with play, with I-can-relate-to-that colloquialisms, and with fun-to-crack riddles.
ReplyDeleteOften overlooked is her construction skill. Look at the answers in the grid. Where’s any ugliness? Where? On a 72-word puzzle with a mere 30 black squares, do you know how difficult this is to achieve? I gaze at the filled grid and feel peaceful.
Robyn is about the longs (answers of eight letters or more). There are 12 in this puzzle. Today, my three favorite answers were longs – INSIDE JOBS, THAT’S THE SPOT, and DON’T REMIND ME. The first two are NYT debut answers, and the third has only appeared once in all the major crossword venues. Wow!
Plus, wit and originality in cluing. For instance, ABSENT has appeared a hundred times in the major venues, often clued [Not in class]. But Robyn added a twist never before used, with her terrific misdirecting [Not in English, say].
Oh, I also liked the lovely serendipities today – the three rare-in-crosswords 5-letter semordnilaps (SPANS, SLOOP, SMART), and the kitchen-y PuzzPair© cross of STEAM TABLE with a “fryer” homophone (FRIAR).
You are a talent and a Crosslandia treasure Robyn. Thank you for another shining tour through the box!
Loved it! Robyn’s puzzles are the best. I had the most trouble in the middle with ABSENT (just couldn’t get away from hearing “English” as meaning the actual language), CENT as clued, and DARNS, knew it had to be socks but I forgot all about crew socks).
ReplyDeleteI had trot before GAIT, so that put a spanner in the works for awhile in that section.
Loved the long answers, great Friday!
I went to the site & saw it was a RW Friday. I have to agree with
ReplyDelete@AndyFreude@6:32 "An RW Friday. My prayers have been answered".
I'll be back after yoga :)
Very easy for a Friday. Etch and Ethel went straight in and it was plain sailing from there with but a few moments of resistance. Time was Wednesday average.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed it but quite easy (for a Friday), just over half my normal time according to the app.
ReplyDeleteI learned STEAM TABLE from this Roches lyric (they played a small theater in Ithaca in '78 or '79):
Now the only thing I want
Is to have that old job back again.
I'll clean the tables;
I'll do the creams;
I'll get down on my knees and scrub
behind the steam table.
I was at that concert! State Theatre? I was thinking of sending Rex a link to that song...
DeleteI agree that it was an unusually easy Friday. And not only did I fail to notice Robyn's byline until after I'd finished the puzzle -- I didn't have the slightest idea that it was hers as I was working on it. I always think of Robyn's puzzles as having a great deal of lively and colorful fill and this puzzle didn't seem particularly notable in that regard. It's smooth and clean and junk-free, but I didn't find it especially exciting. Perfectly pleasant and highly professional as always, but not out of Robyn's top drawer, I'm thinking.
ReplyDeleteFH
ReplyDeleteThis was very easy. Took me ten minutes which is in the top 10% of my finish times. Felt more like a Wednesday. Come to think of it, I've done more difficult Wednesdays but it was definitely not Monday-Tuesday easy (and Thursdays don't count, do they?)
Only CARGOPANTS and the very SE corner were mildly tricky but I never remotely felt I was getting stuck.
OK, this will probably get me nixxed by Rex but the veneration of Robyn Weintraub on this site is over-the-top. A posting at 7.41 for example, reads like a teenager's love-letter - - the kind that gets written but not sent.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle was OK but it was way too easy for a Friday. Perhaps that's the editor's fault, not RW's? But come on.
You could just state your opinion w/o impugning others’, but I guess you needed to be “edgy.” It is the internet, after all. Thanks for brightening our lives. 👍🏼
DeleteSrsly. Agreed.
Delete
ReplyDeleteLike @Lewis, I saw the byline and smiled. I knew what was coming and the puzzle didn't disappoint.
My only overwrite was cher before DERN for the 13D actress.
I didn't know what an Intaglio (1A) is, and it took a few crosses to remember the Bose competitor SONOS at 38A.
While enjoyable, far too easy for a Friday - not far off record for Friday. ETCH and ETHEL went in right away, as did NUDE.
ReplyDeleteSeeing Bugs Bunny in "Long-Haired Hare" 50-some years ago (and a few times since) helped on L-L-Leopold - though it was only in the last five or 10 that I learned of Stokowski. Had DarTH STAR before DEATH STAR. A couple other silly errors in that area - SaNOS instead of SONOS and IPaDS instead of IPODS, but SLOOP made those clear.
Maybe it was wavelength with the constructor, maybe it was taking break for short walk to clear my head instead of diving right in to puzzle after work. An enjoyable solve. Thanks, Robyn Weintraub.
Don’t get how iPod or IiPad are touches. Help!
DeleteOne version of the iPod was the iPod touch
DeleteThe "iPod Touch" was a product for a while, so "Touches" are a subcategory of "iPods"
DeleteYay, a Robyn Friday! Fun times!
ReplyDeleteORE definitely comes in pockets. See the fabulous Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which includes a whole chapter on Mr. Pocket.
Robyn is the best and I’ve been so sad she hasn’t been in the NYT. I applaud the Times for making the effort to expand its pool of puzzle creators but have missed many of the old standards—and Robyn is the top of that list. Yes, she’s a regular at the New Yorker but somehow it’s not the same. Great to have you back Robyn!
ReplyDeleteStrange experience...I guessed at several answers, expecting to make corrections, and the music sounded. Didn't understand IOTAS until Rex Parker cited the Greek aspect. Don't understand ABSENT for "Not in English" (please explain, someone). And DARNS didn't seem to fit with "Works on a crew." Is a sweater really called a "crew"?
ReplyDeleteOne criticism of the cluing: MEND for "make better" seems too general. I stared at it before deciding nothing else would work.
Not in English referring to a student missing English class, i.e. absent
DeleteNot in English class—absent from school
DeleteABSENT from English class at school
Delete“Where a Diva is likely to make a scene” crossing “Paperless pup” made this MUTT daddy ELATEd…
ReplyDeleteI’m pretty much with @Nancy on this one—a rich, junk-free puzzle with very much in-the-language answers and tricky clues, but somehow not a lot of fun overall. Did not know intaglio or PABLO. Picky, picky, picky! Super high grade for artistry, lower grade for entertainment. But was a learning experience and hope we see more from this creative author.
ReplyDeleteLoved it! THAI was actually my inroad in that area. I am familiar with Thai names and that was the only thing I could think of there, and thankfully it worked. Tough corner but really fantastic puzzle. Great job Robyn, always look forward to your work. I bought your books as Christmas gifts/stocking stuffers for my family!
ReplyDeleteOnly six months but seems so much longer. True I guess that absence makes the heart grow fonder as cruising thru this seemed like welcoming an old friend in for coffee. What a pleasure to start the weekend with a top-notch offering from the consummate Friday crossword artist. An effort much appreciated and a solving experienced much savored.
ReplyDeleteDr. T And The Women is one of those films that sometimes comes across as appallingly bad but then altogether seems surprisingly good. Or at least I thought so. The combined talent of the cast is in itself alone worth watching.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteWell, I'll be darned. @pablo, we get a full fledged, can't be missed PABLO today! Awesome. It's about time. Har.
Nice FriPuz. Stuck in spots, but didn't panic, and was able to finish in a pretty darn good time for me, 24:26. Seemed longer, which is a weird phenomena that happens to me on Themeless puzs. I'm stuck here, stuck there, finally figure out a few answers, get going, and finish quickish, but it feels like it takes longer.
I seemed to run into a lot of P's today, but it turns out they are just clumped together, so it just seemed like a lot. There are 7, four in SEish, three NEish.
Welp, have a Great Friday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Anonymous (8:07) By "a posting at 7:41," I assume you mean the one written by @Lewis. You must not read his comments very often because what he said today is no different than what he writes just about every day. It's his habit to point out the best features in every puzzle, even those which others villify. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
ReplyDelete@Bob Mills: Think "Not in English Class" for "absent".
ReplyDeleteI'm a long-time fan of RW's puzzles so I looked at the byline, expected some good stuff, and was not disappointed. Some first guesses on long anwers that turned out well, which is always cool, and some nice misdirects to keep things interesting.
ReplyDeleteAlways forget Ms. OLIN, briefly considered ROME off the M but remembered there's no R in Hawaiian, so LIMA.
Biggest Doh! for me was STEAMTABLE, which took way too long, as our summer business had a kitchen with one which I walked by many times, got food from, and cleaned often over the course of thirty years, and even with ___AMTABLE it was making no sense. Come on man.
Hey @Roo-I'll give you a sideways partial for Piglet being in a clue, but today I get the full PABLO. Can't stop me now.
A little more pushback would have made this a Fridazo!, but still the best one in quite a while. Nice to see you again, RW, and Really Wish you were here more often. Thanks for all the fun.
After my first pass through the grid I felt pretty sure there'd be plenty of research projects, but I kept chipping away and thankfully the vertical folksyisms dropped in easily, and I whooped it. Engaging and delightful to solve.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered this is a Weintraub. Robynites rejoice.
BEER was the last thing to give up, since I had no idea how fish and chips are made. And that crossing of LOA / OLIN felt rude. I don't think I knew any of the people here. That makes for a lotta "well, I guess that seems right." And cluing something as [___ Island] isn't cluing it at all.
I like the Thai queen's name. I hope it's easier to spell in her language.
Ug: ERG.
Propers: 9
Places: 3
Products: 8
Partials: 3
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 24 (33%)
Funnyisms: 6 😅
Tee-Hee: Did you see it? Did ya? Right at the top in the middle? NUDE! It's right there. And its clue is [barely in the picture]. Tee-Hee. Get it? They're "bare" in the picture. Yukyukyuk. Really makes [___ Balls (treat)] seem prim by comparison. For the record, not one person ever has asked me to pose barely.
Uniclues:
1 Barely scratch the scared.
2 Locale for spicy songs.
3 English throngs needing coddled.
4 Belgium late in 1909.
5 Murderer that texts you when it's time to change the oil.
6 Rapacious result of barely ointment promos.
7 Peruvian Zoomers.
8 Grampa.
9 How one notable basilisk died after meeting Fawkes the Phoenix.
10 Command to ragamuffin barely in the picture.
1 ETCH TIMID NUDE (~)
2 THAI OPERA HOUSE
3 BEER BATTER HERD (~)
4 LEOPOLDLESS
5 SMART DEATH STAR
6 TONER ADS ELATE
7 LIMA INSIDE JOBS
8 CARGO PANTS USER
9 ABSENT IRISES
10 MUTT! STAND STILL!
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Yoga studio. SHOELESS CANYON.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
For some reason I particularly liked number 4 Leopoldless.
DeleteI am thinking you actually must have looked up the year of the Belgian king’s death, which sounds like extra effort to me!
In defense of the 2 answers that bothered you Lina Olin is crosswordese but it doesn’t appear as often as it used to (by it I mean the name of course). In other words I put it in instantly without having a clue about the actress. LOA Got one letter and gave LOA a shot since it was Hawaiian.
@dgd 1:29 PM
DeleteI wish I could say I'm an early 20th century Belgium expert, but outside of a six hour layover in Brussles when we ran into town, ate an unmemorable lunch, and rushed back to the airport, I probably couldn't put the country on a map. When I saw LEOPOLDLESS, I wondered if there were any other famous Leopolds. I always like to use a different person than the one in the original clue. Turns out Leopold II learned nothing from the troubling history of the United States, and his reign is marred by barbaric colonialist practices in the Congo. The world is better being LEOPOLDLESS ... except for our current crop of much nicer and less famous Leopolds.
I expected Rex to tag this as easy. I got my best Friday time ever, not too much slower than my best Thursday. Great puzzle.
ReplyDeleteNice to have Robyn back in the NYT, even if this one didn't sparkle quite as much.
ReplyDeleteI think being a very E/S/T heavy puzzle -- and using only 20 of the 26 letters -- may have contributed to this being a sub-par Robyn Weintraub puzzle. The longs didn't sparkle quite as much as usual. Excellent cluing as always, though.
7/10
Ore can most certainly be "picked," using a pickaxe for mining. Amazon is currently selling a number of different types.
ReplyDeleteDitto @Whatsername
ReplyDeleteHand up also for Robyn Appreciation League membership
Any day when REX & @Lewis both laud the puzzz brings sunshine into my day
A completely non-puzzle-related comment: @Rex, thank you for mentioning Paul and Sons yesterday! My partner and I went there before the Rumble Ponies Pride Night last night and it was delicious. The game was...less so...
ReplyDeleteTale of 2 puzzles for me-- my own fault. Sailed along with no hitches in the N/NW area and the long diagonal. Then I unhesitatingly and overconfidently wrote in AMUSE for ELATE, wanted SONYS, then made it worse with HELPEDUP and finally RIGA instead of LIMA. It took a few minutes to correct that mess. Original as always for RW.
ReplyDeleteFor mbr: Thanks. It never would have occurred to me that the clue referred to school.
ReplyDeleteEasy. The long downs were pretty obvious. The only place it got bumpy was the center where ART DEGREE, CEDED, and DARNS took some staring, other than that, lots of whooshing.
ReplyDeleteDid not know SONOS and PABLO.
Smooth, sparkly, delightful, liked it a bunch or what @Rex said.
I had a vague idea that an intaglio was a kind of ETCHing, but that didn't stop me from making the same mistake as Rex, with ranI for the queen. Fortunately, I remembered ETHCL Barrymore in a few more seconds, and all was well. I agree it had a lot of whoosh, and somehow it's fun to fine long colloquial expressions. (Although it can also be fun to find relatively unused words -- I remember 60 years ago when my roommate suddenly shouted SKULLDUGGERY! with great elation as he solved that day's puzzle.)
ReplyDeleteIf I knew as many languages as John X I would have put in LOA right off, but as it was I had to struggle with the crosses. I did vaguely know it was OLIN, God knows how.
My only real complaint--what is "territorial land?" Minor nits: LEASEs may not be renewable, and a GAIT is not exactly a speed. Close enough for a clue, though.
If Robyn Weintraub is appearing more often in The New Yorker than the NYT, I'm guessing they probably pay better, rather than the NYT editorial choices.
PABLO honey! You know we're all going to be calling you that, I hope!
Wed, Thu, Fri this week were all fun. But are the puzzles getting easier or am I just getting better at them? Today’s was a great puzzle but it didn’t push back enough for a Friday.
ReplyDeleteThis puzzle started out with plenty of delightful whoosh and I worried it would be over too soon. Then I came to the SW corner and it was a dead stop. Is Serra a Padre or a Saint? What is it Niobe is known for? Who is the baseball player? Tier, tree, and vine are all features of the rainforest canopy. Radiohead is not in my wheelhouse. I finally broke through with STEAMTABLE and found my way. 10 minutes longer than my average time, making this a very satisfying Friday.
ReplyDeleteI loved when I saw ABSENT.
ORES can definitely be found in pockets.
Excellent puzzle. On the easy side but there was good crunch. Single-digit threes -- brava!
ReplyDeleteMy only gripe is that PABLO is clued by a 30-year old rock album, not either of the Spanish geniuses, Picasso or Casals.
I put an E in an O in the LO/EA O/ELIN cross. I am counting it as completed.
ReplyDeleteI really liked seeing HERD in the puzzle because just a few hours before I started my solve my daughter and I were making dinner for a family gathering and were riffing on The Bear and other "life in a restaurant kitchen" type shows. One of the exchanges went something like this:
ReplyDeleteEgs: Please start the couscous.
Egsina: Yes, chef.
Egs: Did you catch that I told you to make it with veggie stock?
Egsina: Heard, chef.
Egs: There's a gaggle of cows in the front of the house.
Egsina: HERD, chef.
Maybe you had to be there.
Turns out that Big Tobacco knew all along that their products were full of DEATHSTAR and mortality's nicotine.
@Gary Jugert 9:53 am. Probably no one has asked you to barely pose because you reportedly don't know which is the UPEND of a NUDE.
Nothing fancy today. NOBELS and whistles. Just a fantastic whooshy puzzle. Thanks, Robyn Weintraub.
Pretty fast time over here, nice misdirection on a number of clues. A solid puzzle though easy for a Friday. I wonder what would happen if Robyn got a puzzle accepted using a pseudonym. Her work is professional, but I am mystified by the reverence and cultlike adoration that she receives here. It's almost embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteOoooh Rockin’ Robyn!!
ReplyDeleteSeemed easy to me for a Friday. THATSTHESPOT, DONTREMINDME and STANDSTILL went down like a good single malt. The other longs were easy when crossed. Hope tomorrow’s more of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteWell I won't say it was easy easy....Instead of sailing, I gently paddled my way hither and yon. And it was most enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI started with my ETCH because I know intaglio and I ended with ALTO because I know a middle part when I see you. I stumbled on some rocks with SONOS and I've never had the pleasure of meeting PABLO Honey. Radioheads? I also considered a little BREAD CRUMB for the fish and chips coating but how can you coat a piece of cod with just one crumb! Easy to fix and I was happy. THATS THE SPOT indeed!
I have to run now and will come back to read everyone and hope all of you enjoyed this as much as I did....
Robyn is one of my favorite constructors. I’m always on the same wavelength as her. I wish she would teach a crossword creating class to new constructors.
ReplyDeleteEasy and a treat, with many a "How does she do it?" along the way. Before I started reading @Rex, I didn't think about grid allowing for "flow," but I do now, and this one sure had it. What a fun ride.
ReplyDeleteKnew it would be a themeless treat, as soon as I saw the constructioneer name. Used to get the same vibe when I saw "Patrick Berry" up there. Not sure why these folks like Robyn [and especially PB1] don't turn up as often here as they used to. Maybe they got a better gig goin at the New Yorker puz?
ReplyDeleteBut, I digress …
OK, now. It's time to declare a brand new xword-related award. The award will be in recognition of an outstandinly over-the-top sneakier-than-snot puzclue that *doesn't* sport a ?-mark warnin. And which, even after U fill in the answer, you're still not quite sure what's goin on. We have a primo candidate for such an award today:
{Not in English, say} = ABSENT. Truly clever, twisted creativity.
What to call such a hallowed, yet unusual, award? M&A has got to think …
Any suggestions?
staff weeject pick, of a lowly 9 choices: LOA. Better[?] clue: {Backward ISP??}. or maybe: {Laugh out aloud??}.
fave fillins: Almost everything. Especially DEATHSTAR and DONTREMINDME. Surely seed entries.
NW corner did have some nanosecond-drainin parts, such as that Queen Suthida Alphabet clue, intaglio of mystery stuff, and ERG as clued. Still, M&A did know ETHEL & LEOPOLD, so that helped.
Mahalo nui loa for every dern square, Ms. Weintraub darlin. U do good work.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
**gruntz**
This went by very quickly until the SW, PABLO, GOBI, JAB, FRIAR, MIST, MOURNS didn’t come easily to mind. Finally looked up Niobe, which led to MOURNS and enough confidence to woosh through the rest.
ReplyDelete@8:07 - this is the same love Lewis 7:41 exudes daily, which we love him for. Usually when he is finding that some words are semordnilaps, it is a sign of a weak puzzle and he is amusing himself more than exclaiming any non-accidental particular virtue of the puzzle, but today’s puzzle is strong.
Only real criticism of RW’s puzzles are that they are a bit easy for a Friday, but ultimately balanced by freshness and clever clues.
I also guess that many regulars are over at the NYer for better pay and regular guaranteed appearances. However, only Monday is any real challenge these days. Wed for beginners, then Th and Fri are minis for some reason. With fewer full puzzles published over there, I hope we see RW and some other stalwarts here more often.
I was duly awed. A first rate Friday gem from Robyn. Took a long time, but I got there in the end, with no cheating or lookups.
ReplyDeleteEasy. Lots of fun stuff. Forgot ETHEL and LEOPOLD, so that took some crosses. Didn't know SONOS, but everything else was cake, with lots of icing. Learned from previous xwords: ERG(ometer), Lena OLIN. Radiohead is my fav band, happy to see the PABLO Honey reference. People thought they would be a 1-hit wonder with Creep, but OK Computer and Kid A were revolutionary albums when they came out. Blew my mind with both. I also wear CARGOPANTS and crew socks. Loved the puzzle, obviously. Welcome back, Robyn :)
ReplyDeleteThe NYT has kept you from us for too long, Robyn! (I agree with @jberg 10:56 - the NYer probably pays better).
ReplyDeleteI had to struggle today! - which I never have to do with a RW Friday (or any day by Robyn for that matter). I still enjoyed it but I didn't whoosh. Must be me. Don't stay away so long, Robyn!
Yes, @Anonymous 8:07 - if you couldn't tell, I am an avid member of the Robyn Weintraub Crossword Puzzle Fan Club, as well as comments
by @ Lewis .... at any time :)
Refreshing to see LOA used in a context that acknowledges that Hawaiian words have meanings! This whole kea/loa thing would not be the eponymous indicator of an arbitrary answer if the clueing provided context to chose one word or the other. The way these are usually deployed (as in "Hawaiian volcano" ) with no context to hint at what word might be deduced just treats hawaiian words as meaningless sounds. tre' colonial. Ahem.
ReplyDeleteI think part of RW’s charm in puzzles is allowing the solver’s imagination room to solve. 16D “Not in English, say” and 36A “Paper for an animator, perhaps” are examples. Always a rewarding experience.
ReplyDeleteFor Masked and Anonymous: I'd call your award s FUCHSYA (not to be confused with the flower)
ReplyDeleteAs a lawyer I'm puzzled by the notion that a lease is a renewable agreement. Just like any other type of contract, a lease may or may not be renewable depending on its terms. A fun Friday though.
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain 41 across? How are iPods touches?
ReplyDeleteThe Touch was the name of a model of of IPhone, the "Ipod Touch." I have a child who had an Ipod Touch, only way I ever would have figured that one out.
DeleteWow. Great puzzle! Can’t remember a Friday that was more fun.
ReplyDeleteSo many of the later in the week puzzles that Rex labels EASY are killers for me. Today, I was delighted that I found his MEDIUM pretty EASY. A little back and forth, but overall, it fell into place. Even got ETCH and NUDE with no crosses.
ReplyDeleteI’m kind of with @Rich Glauber, 11:12 am, on this one. Yes Ms. Weintraub makes good puzzles but let’s pull back on the overdose of adoration. It is kind of embarrassing.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good puzzle and I had fun solving it. While @Gill I. 11:26 “gently paddled” her way through, I just ambled, like a city walk with my dog, stopping at every lamp post and mailbox for a sniff. It’s possible that ambling and paddling are closely related.
By the way, that dog that that ambles with me is called PABLO (43D).
Haven’t produced print in over 30 years but words like intaglio just stick in your head.
Thanks, Ms. Weintraub, for an enjoyable stroll.
You’re embarrassing
DeleteEnjoyed the puz! But why is ALTO the middle voice in the group of 4 (soprano-alto-tenor-bass)?
ReplyDeleteInteresting reaction. Some people complain about the over praise of the constructor. I like her puzzles. I didn’t look at the name until Rex mentioned her I still thought it a very good puzzle, though a bit too easy for a Friday.
ReplyDeleteWhat people who like her are trying to say is that her puzzles have a lot less junk than most. Sometimes it isn’t obvious
A better grid for 4 letter HDWs today, especially if (like Tom T) you are fond of T’s.
ReplyDeleteThe T at 9A not only begins the word TIMID, but also the HDWs TOTE (moving to the SE) and TART (moving to the SW). That TART is very close to NUDE (5A). How TiTillaTing!
And if you follow that SW diagonal line started by TART, you will find a foreign double-T diagonal word—TETE.
TOTE, TART, TETE: a TanTalizing Trio.
The puzzle played Easy for me; it suited me to a T.
p.s.
ReplyDelete@Bob Mills: har. Fuchsya Awards. Has an interestin ring to it. Semi-flowery praise.
@kitshef: re: yer runt query - Well, hey -- why not Boise?
M&Also
Great way to start a weekend! I saw Robyn’s name and knew it would be great! Loved it!
ReplyDeleteHow is iPod or even iPad “touches?
ReplyDelete@Rich Glauber - I wrote my comment last night without looking at who authored it. The only thing I added after reading @Rex was “or what @Rex said.”
ReplyDeleteThat said, I was not surprised when it turned out to be one of Robyn’s.
On May 10, 2022, Apple discontinued the iPod Touch, effectively ending the iPod product line.The last iOS version to support the seventh-generation iPod Touch is iOS 15, except for ongoing OS maintenance.[
ReplyDeleteLoved it. RW is a delight, right up my 84 y o alley. She and Liz Gorski are my favorites. I got slowed down in SW, first place I didn’t WHOOSH. Great puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rex.
Fun but felt like a Tuesday! Did it in less than half my Friday time!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice puzzle to return home to after a short trip across the state!
ReplyDeleteI started this puzzle and about a third of the way through I thought to myself: “This is really good!” Then I looked at the byline and realized “Of course it’s good. It’s a Robyn Weintraub!.” My one and only nit is the little trap in the SE corner: LOA-OLIN. That’s a Natick which probably ruined the fun for moe than a few. Fortunately, I guessed correctly for the O.
ReplyDeleteVery hard because of the cluing. Just one example: "_____Island." There must be 375 words that can go in there.
ReplyDeleteI was flummoxed for a while in the NW when I had mistakenly written ScANS for "Runs across." This gave an unintelligible 3-down, and I never did have an idea about 19-across. The moment I tried SPANS, I instantly saw CARGOPANTS (headslap). One of my more sheepish aha moments. ERG as a gym machine? If you say so.
Friday-tough, so medium is about right. Birdie.
Wordle fail. Had an either/or on my fifth guess...wrong again.
I was part way through and I was thinking how good this puzzle was. Then I spotted the byline and said:”Of course it’s good. It’s by Robyn Weintraub!” My only nit is the trap set at the LOA-OLIN crossing. I guessed right with the O but I’m pretty sure others did not.
ReplyDeleteDARN FITS
ReplyDeleteDON’TREMINDME THAT THERE’SMORE
STILL HID INSIDE THERE, dude,
ISEE what THE CARGOPANTS are for,
ETHEL’s TIMID to be NUDE.
--- LEOPOLD OLIN
Yesterday:
NO AWAY LIFE
I’MSURE two PSINAPOD
SIT and WAITITOUT TOO much,
Or Y IN THE NAME OF GOD
DID they always BINTOUCH?
--- LOUIE TYLER
There were various versions of the iPods, with the iPod Touch being one of them. I own an iPod Nano, the runtiest of the lot.
ReplyDeletevery, very, very close
ReplyDeleteHad to look up a couple at the end - did not know DEATHSTAR. Not a sci fi person!
Lady Di
Loved it, but I also agree with those who said it was too easy for a Friday. My only snag was SKETCHPAD before ARTDEGREE for the animator clue, but there were enough obvious downs that conflicted that SKETCHPAD got pulled pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately for those of us who love RW puzzles, there's apparently not much to look forward to the rest of this year. As RW says in the Constructor Notes:
I can’t believe that we’re halfway through June and this is my first New York Times crossword of 2024 (and based on my current submissions, the rest of the year is unlikely to be significantly better). Life gets in the way sometimes, but I really intend to refocus my time and get back on track in 2025.