Fictional country in "The Princess Diaries" / TUE 7-23-24 / Pickle, to a Brit / Freshwater fish named for its shoreline habitat / Cipher machine of W.W. II / Ken's Mojo Dojo ___ House (redundantly named dwelling in "Barbie") / Rock climber's notch

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

Constructor: Sarah Sinclair and Amie Walker

Relative difficulty: Medium (normal Tues.)


THEME: CHORAL GROUP (62A: What the ends of 17-, 31-, 37- and 48-Across are, collectively) — theme answers end with SOPRANO, ALTO, TENOR, and BASS, respectively:

Theme answers:
  • TONY SOPRANO (17A: Role for which James Gandolfini won three Emmys)
  • PALO ALTO (31A: Silicon Valley city whose name translates to "tall stick")
  • EVEN TENOR (37A: Stable temperament)
  • ROCK BASS (48A: Freshwater fish named for its shoreline habitat)
Word of the Day: THE Ohio State University (10A: Article that Ohio State University surprisingly managed to trademark in 2022) —
Ohio State University has received a trademark for one of the most common words in the English language, one that the school’s supporters often forcefully emphasize when uttering its name: “The.”

While athletes from other schools may simply say they went to Michigan or Penn State, a Buckeye rarely cuts corners: “The Ohio State University,” they’ll say, usually adding a dramatic pause after stressing the “the.” The school’s players, alumni and supporters often speak its name in that consistent cadence, as football fans who have watched N.F.L. starting lineups introduce themselves on Sundays or Monday nights have most likely heard

To Ohio State’s supporters, the tradition is cherished and sets the school apart from the rest. (To Ohio State’s rivals, it’s nauseatingly pompous. To each their own.)

The trademark, issued on Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, won’t unleash heavy-handed lawyers in search of anyone using the word “the” — its protections are limited to a narrow set of circumstances that people are unlikely to cross unless they are selling knockoff Ohio State merchandise. But it gives the university some protection against unlicensed sellers, and adds to the school’s efforts to link itself to the very common word. (NYT) (6/23/22)
• • •

Stopped to take a deep breath about five seconds into this one when not one but two of the long answers in the NW were pop culture trivia. And not exactly universally known pop culture trivia, either (in that I didn't know either one off the top of my head). You want to lean into a pop culture thing that you like here, or there, that's fine, that's normal, but two answers, right out of the box, both of them among the longer answers you have in the puzzle ... off-putting. Off-putting to clue MATTHEW that way (via Succession) when you've already got an HBO (now Max?) show as one of your themers—the very themer that is *crossing* MATTHEW. Crossing HBO answers ... feels like shilling. As for GENOVIA, I actually saw (and enjoyed) The Princess Diaries at some point, but shrug, the fake country name was not a bit of info that I retained. Both MATTHEW (1D: Actor Macfadyen of "Succession") and GENOVIA (3D: Fictional country in "The Princess Diaries") are easy enough to suss out from crosses, but cramming the opening section of a puzzle with your pet trivia feels slightly obnoxious. I know many of you are Succession fans, so your experience of the trivia here may be very different. I have never understood why anyone would want to watch a show about billionaires. I can't think of people I'm less interested in. I'm *quite* sure the writing and acting on that show is phenomenal, you don't have to convince me. But the subject matter is a hard pass. But this is beside the point, the point being: spread your pop culture trivia out. Please and thank you (I say this as a huge fan of The Sopranos, always happy to see James Gandolfini's name, go watch Nicole Holofcener's Enough Said (2013), with Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus) (actually, maybe I'll do that today...).  


But what about the meat of the puzzle, the theme? Well, it's OK. The concept is very basic (a straightforward "Last Words"-type puzzle), and the revealer was a bit of a let-down. I could see very quickly, after the second themer, that we were doing the voice type thing with the last words, but instead of getting some funny or punny or wacky or wordplay-based revealer, we just get plain-old CHORAL GROUP. A flat, literal description. Ho hum. It's important, but not hugely remarkable, that all the theme answers feature the voice types in non-voice contexts. I probably should mind that BASS is pronounced differently in its answer (where the other voice types aren't), but I don't. ROCK BASS does bother me for a different reason, though. Well, first, for outlier reasons, i.e. what the hell is a ROCK BASS? Feels like the constructors were desperate for a four-letter word to precede BASS (because the whole answer needed to be 8 letters, for symmetry's sake), and so ROCK BASS won because ROCK BASS ... exist? But I have to believe that (nearly) everyone has heard of the other themers, whereas bunches of us will have no idea what a ROCK BASS is (besides a fish). The clue tried to help me with the "ROCK" part by saying something about the fish's "shoreline habitat," but that did Nothing for me. Needed most of the crosses to get ROCK. And speaking of ROCK, if you're going to have it in your grid, and especially if you're going to have it as your least-likely-to-be-known word in your theme answer set, you probably (almost certainly) shouldn't dupe the word in the clues (10A: Rock-climber's notch => TOEHOLD). Overall, the theme is fine, but it runs a bit to the dull side. 


Outside of the pop culture up front and the ROCK business, the puzzle was pretty easy, pretty straightforward. Pet and Dog and CATSPAs remain way, way (way x infinity) more popular in the crossword grid than they are in real life. Kinda tired of seeing variations on that answer at this point. But these animal SPAs appear so frequently now that it's hard to be too mad about it. Just another thing that xwords over-represent, like the character names on "Game of Thrones" or the enduring popularity of the BAHA Men. Never happy to see WOAH. In retrospect I think GENOVIA is a fun answer—possibly because it's the most original thing in the grid. It also doubles the Julie Andrews content—never a bad thing (Andrews is in The Princess Diaries ... and then we get 25D: Title for Julie Andrews or Maggie Smith). Every puzzle could use more Julie Andrews. Most situations in life could use more Julie Andrews. I know I mention Julia Louis-Dreyfus a lot (esp. for someone who never really cared for Seinfeld), but I highly recommend listening to the recent episode of her podcast "Wiser Than Me" where she interviews Andrews. Actually, the one where she interviews Carol Burnett is great, too. Oh, and the one where she interviews Bonnie Raitt (though she mostly cries through that one because she's so overcome by her fandom ... it's adorable). Anyway, Julie Andrews rules, is my point, today and always.


Bullets:
  • 57D: Hillsboro ___, minor-league baseball team with a mascot named Barley (HOPS) — as with ROCK BASS, I had no idea what the answer was *and* the clue designed to help me get there did not help at all. Both "Barley" and HOPS are beer ingredients. OK. But "Barley" is just a grain, used in lots of things. Nothing about the clue screams "beer" to me. I don't even know where Hillsboro is, unless it's North Carolina. That's my guess. Final answer ... Oof, nope. Oregon. Oregon? LOL, that's about as un-North Carolina as a state can get, besides maybe Alaska or Hawaii. I don't mind this clue, but it's a bizarrely obscure piece of trivia for a Tuesday.

  • 47D: Length from fingertip to fingertip (ARM SPAN) — I had ARM and then no idea. Just blanked. WINGSPAN is a front-of-the-brain term. ARM SPAN, apparently, not.
  • 53D: Tangle (SNARL) — I had SNARE. SNARL is better, but they still seem remarkably, confusingly close in meaning. Kinda like their cousins, EVADE and ELUDE.
  • 30D: Pickle, to a Brit (GHERKIN) — huh. I thought GHERKIN was just a type of pickle. "A small prickly fruit used for pickling" (m-w.com). I don't really eat pickles, i.e. the pickled cucumbers that come in jars, except when my local sandwich shop throws one in the bag. GHERKIN gives me old TV ad memories ... I think a pelican was involved ... oh, yeah, Vlasic. Why a pelican? What is the pelican/pickle connection? Oh, wait—it's a stork, not a pelican. A stork! I see, OK, that's ... no, I still don't get it. Although ... this (hilarious/insane) ad really leans into the stork business. Nothing sells pickles like ... an unexpected pregnancy joke!

I guess there is some connection between "pregnant women get weird food cravings" and "pickles," but still, this ad's whole "pregnancy scare" / "babies are pickles now" concept is ... bold. 

See you next time.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld 

P. S. So I’m literally watching The Princess Diaries right now, because why not, and … well, I was prepared to see GENOVIA, of course, but TOEHOLDs!? That was a surprise! 



[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

100 comments:

Stuart 6:13 AM  

Pretty easy, but I liked it. I especially liked the way the CHORAL GROUP sequence went in SATB order. After getting SOPRANO and seeing the revealer, I just went straight to the other three clues and filled in ALTO, TENOR, BASS as the ends of the answers.

SouthsideJohnny 6:53 AM  

Glad to see that OFL called out the trivia test in the NW, which is always a bummer but unfortunately is a frequent NYT staple. I also didn’t know the code machine or WHOA for “blowing my mind” - so pretty much an 0-fer up there for me.

Needed a post-solve lookup to learn what BASALT is - I initially got caught up in the SNARe/SNARL situation as well. The rest of it is fine, but starting the grid off with a trivia test was a buzz-kill that just gave this one an unfortunate VIBE.

Anthony In TX 6:57 AM  

Glad to know I'm not the only one who sees WOAH and says, "Whoa, hold on--that's not right!" And I feel the same way about Succession: everyone says it's great and I just never had any interest whatsoever.
The theme was fine. Nothing too out-there, but it is a Tuesday after all. I'll be glad when we don't see SPA so often. It's getting to be another EKE or EPEE or one of those other filler words.
Excellent inclusions of Matthew Sweet and Kevin Morby tunes, by the way.

Rug Crazy 7:17 AM  

just WOAH

kitshef 7:20 AM  

Three unknown proper nouns in the NW seems a mite harsh for a Tuesday. MATTHEW was fairly easy to infer once a few crosses went in. But I’ve never seen ‘The Princess Diaries’ so GEBOVIA crossing whoever TOBY SOPRANO is was basically a guess.

I expect the clue for WOAH to draw a lot of justified scorn today.

And then there is the clue for HOPS. Why clue an ordinary word in the most obscure way possible? Whose decision was that?

Max W. 7:27 AM  

I think of ROCK BASS as what John Entwistle, Paul McCartney, or Gene Simmons play…

Son Volt 7:27 AM  

Some obscure trivia but the remaining fill was so easy that I never saw some of the crosses. Weak revealer but cute early week theme. Liked how each term was found in a non-musical themer.

Tyler Childers

GHERKIN was neat as was the TOE HOLD - HOT DATE stack. No idea on GENOVIA - don’t know the film. Probably one of the few here who do not like felines so not sure whether CAT SPA is a real thing or not.

T BONE

Quick but enjoyable little Tuesday morning solve.

Mott the Hoople covering a great Sonny song

Anonymous 7:29 AM  

I enjoyed Rex's column more than the puzzle. It was so easy until it wasn't, because of that GENOVIA/HOV cross, which was a natick for me and required a visit with Dr. Google. Surprised to see that "pickle in US, gherkin in Britain" Wikipedia notation. Everywhere else, including in my experience, a gherkin is a small pickle--in the US, UK, wherever. Wikipedia is so helpful until it's not.

Loved the shout-out to the Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast, which is an absolute hoot. She is so passionate about everything (just like Elaine...) and her enthusiasm really gets her guests going.

But what I loved most was the big maize and blue M illustrating the explanation for the unbelievably pompous and stupid "THE" Ohio State University. As if there were another Ohio State University but the one in Columbus is THE one.

Hail!

Iris 7:30 AM  

Sailed through this one. But hey, a TV show about billionaires is distasteful but one about the Miob is not? Both shows are about the profound personal misery of corrupted souls. Give Succession a try, Rex. A great work of art.

Anonymous 7:32 AM  

Anyone who has been in IT in the past decade knows what Gherkin is, because that's the name they gave the language used to describe requirements in the most widely used software testing framework. That said, as far as I know it has nothing to do with British Colloquialism.

Conrad 7:33 AM  


Easy solving "Downs-Only Lite" (not reading the theme clues). I didn't watch Succession or remember The Princess Diaries, but the names were fairly crossed. I had enough of 3D to figure it had to be GErOVIA or GENOVIA, but TONY SOPRANO set me right.

I didn't know what Shawarma was and I thought it might be a religious festival so I had hIndu before PITAS at 31D. Quickly corrected by TACO at 43A, which was good because the other three crosses were all themers.

Jack Stefano 7:36 AM  

He likes The Princess Diaries and hates Succession lolol

FrankFDNY 7:39 AM  

Is that Groucho Marx doing the voiceover in the pickle ad?

mathgent 7:42 AM  

"Hard pass" means NOPE? I guess so -- it's in the dictionary. I've never heard it out here.

Lewis 7:43 AM  

Random thoughts:
• Any day that starts with GHERKIN and ENIGMA is promising.
• Interesting fact about ARM SPAN: It is usually close to a person’s height.
• TOE HOLDs in Crosslandia are precious on Saturdays, aplenty on Tuesdays.
• Lovely that OOP is up and DAN is down.
• I have a PENPAL, a student I taught in in fourth grade, who is now a journalist in her 30s, and we simply share our thoughts, concerns, and discoveries in a space of trust and honesty. I highly recommend having one!
• What a lovely phrase, EVEN TENOR, a little brushstroke of beauty inserted into our language.

Amie Walker, your last NYT puzzle (made with Jess Shulman) charmed me, with its theme answers of NUDGE NUDGE, WINK WINK, HINT HINT, and COUGH COUGH.

Sarah Sinclair, you have four NYT puzzles – a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday – and have a chance to hit the cycle (a puzzle for every day of the week) in your first seven puzzles, a feat accomplished only once in NYT history, by Andrew Reis. Go for it!

Thank you both for taking me on a splendid outing today!

Anonymous 7:43 AM  

Yup, WOAH is right up there with ANYWHO in bad (sorry, creative/cutesy) millennial spellings. Boo on both!
A ROCK BASS most certainly is a thing..Got that one instantly.
Agree on all pop culture calls this time, including thumbs up for "The" Sopranos.

Anonymous 7:44 AM  

Never heard of HOV lanes before, so naticked me on GENOVIA.

Bob Mills 7:45 AM  

Had to cheat in the NW to get MATTHEW the actor. This puzzle had too much popular culture for my taste, especially on-line abbreviations like WOAH.

MaxxPuzz 7:47 AM  

The Gherkin in London

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.askideas.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F12%2FBeautiful-View-Of-The-Gherkin-Tower1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=96555d024b9f7d94bbc0df559211cc9e153d81c8678b5af0497f4672a8699757&ipo=images

Anonymous 7:51 AM  

It’s Tony Soprano, just fyi

Bruce R 7:52 AM  

If it were a contest, I would have submitted GENOVIO and WOOH. I just can't put WOAH down and be content with it.

Mskare 8:04 AM  

To #A 12:22 from yesterday: It was Joachim with his dictum that taught us that they are crossword clues, not definitions. It wasn’t Z.

Dr.A 8:12 AM  

Same on Succession. . Watched a couple of episodes and thought, hmm this is going to be exactly the same for the entire span of the show. No thanks
Anyhoo, Standup Bass may have worked, musical instrument sufficiently different from Vocal part? Sea Bass is more well known than Rock Bass I’d imagine.

Anonymous 8:18 AM  

We do have a Hillsborough in North Carolina, but it doesn’t have a minor league baseball team. NC readers, you might enjoy this piece of mine chronicling NC trivia in the crossword: https://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/article289683504.html

Eater of Sole 8:21 AM  

Dang it, I told them not to use that word. The only silver lining in having "adorbs" (even autocorrect tries to change it to "adores") in the clue, rather than the answer, is that I am not made to feel dirty by entering it myself.

Let's not use this "word" called adorbs
Its cutesiness, frankly, is horbs
It sticks in my craw
there should be a law
I call those who use it deplorbs

pabloinnh 8:23 AM  

Y.eah, that NW corner. Famous things I have never seen include Succcession, The Princess Diaries, and The Sopranos. Plus HOV took too long and WOAH? Just no.

Had SOPRANO and ALTO and still wrote in EVENTEMPER, which didn't fit, and me a TENOR. I mean really. BTW, fisher folk I know around here have catch a ROCKBASS occasionally, so that was familiar. And I have been a member of one CHORALGROUP or another for fifty years or so, so nice to see a shout out there.

A new ADA today, how do you do, and the idea of a team called The HOPS makes me smile.

OK Tuesday (NW excepted) SS and AW . Stressing Singing Always Works for me, and thanks for a fair amount of fun.

Anonymous 8:26 AM  

Personally I find it refreshing to have trivia from AFTER I was born for a change (and I'm not even young). Joey F has been a nice change.

Anonymous 8:31 AM  

That block M made my day! Go Blue!

F. Vincent 8:32 AM  

Re: 65A: a WOAH-fully bad clue. An umpire also calls people safe. Also calls ball and strikes. Also calls balks. Also calls time-out. In an official capacity, an umpire calls a lot of things, among which is calling people out. But an umpire by no means always calling people out, as if it is the only thing the umpire calls. How did this clue ever get past an editor?

On another note, I know it's Tuesday, but could constructors pretty-please find a better clue for Alec Guinness, a man who did a lot of things and was honored for a lot of things, than one that references his role in Star Wars?

Anonymous 8:57 AM  

Yes, Frank, Groucho hawked Vlasic pickles. After his death, the company’s ads feature Groucho imitators.

Personally, I think one thing the world needs less than billionaires is billionaire-themed entertainment. To each their own.

RooMonster 8:59 AM  

Hey All !
TuesPuz.
Nice that TONY SOPRANO and CHORAL GROUP are symmetrical.
Seemed a lot of Abbrs off the get go. MPG, HTTP, CFO, HOV, PHD, ETA, EPA. Those are all above the PALO ALTO row. Also normally ADA, but this time clued as a name. But after that, there's only one more, PTA.

WOAH. Whoa, that spelling is catching on. Oh well, language changes and evolves.

For a list/group puz, this is tight and pretty good. EVEN TENOR, one might say.

Don't have a HOT DATE, but I do gotta go.

Happy Tuesday.

Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV

Anonymous 9:00 AM  

Good example of a puzzle in which one or two answers changes the whole experience. For me, a nice light Tuesday with a few unique answers thrown in.

POV: you have 3 tween daughters in the early '00s. You have seen Princess Diaries enough times that you can recite entire scenes. You have watched endless reruns of Pride and Prejudice and have broken up numerous fights regarding Colin Firth vs Matthew McFayden. You breeze through the NW of this puzzle and enjoy the ride

Nancy 9:13 AM  

There are two types of constructors: Those who will always look for a pop culture trivia way to clue a word that absolutely doesn't need to be clued that way and those who will do the exact opposite.

We know TONY SOPRANO was needed for the theme. And perhaps the grid couldn't have worked without GENOVIA, that all-important country that's been in the news so much lately. But surely there are MATTHEWs who have done more for the world than starred in a TV series. And surely there's an important ADA who existed somewhere other than a kid's book. And a million ways to clue CASA without a reference to "Barbie". But the absolute worst clue/answer -- so bad that it's actually hilarious -- is cluing HOPS with that minor league baseball team that I'm sure no one's ever heard of unless their son is its star pitcher.

It's all about choices, isn't it? And with a few different choices, this could have been a perfectly swell Tuesday puzzle. There were even some very nice un-Tuesdayish clues for UMPIRE, ARMSPAN, PENPAL and SUB.

Beezer 9:24 AM  

I started out on a tear at the top with the acrosses and didn’t look at a down clue until I got to EVENTENOR. By that time I had kind of figured the answer would include a singing voice BUT I got stuck on “stable” as for horses. D’oh! Then there was the little thing that I thought might be a dOCKBASS. Hey! I could picture the fact that fisherpeople would sit on a dock since they hang out close to shore. The dOCKBASS snafu resulted in me actually having to “check puzzle” at the end. Double d’oh on fact I never even LOOKED at the clue for 40D.

The Sopranos is one of those series that I seem to know a lot about even though I never watched it. I had nothing against it, I just think I was too busy. I’ve thought about trying it out now, but I may have reached my lifetime limit of movies/series about “the mob.”

GY 9:28 AM  

Totally agree!! Choices!

Emily 9:29 AM  

I loved this puzzle. I didn't see the constructor before I started and could tell immediately that it was not a man. The Barbie movie, Princess Diaries, Julie Andrews, Ada Twist Scientist???? Would love to see more of this from the NYT.

I had no trouble with the trivia and am surprised so many people did. The things I didn't know outright were extremely gettable with the crosses.

Anonymous 9:31 AM  

Or DUMBASS if we're changing the length and that's not too off color for nyt. In the same vein, I can imagine someone saying something about hating their MCJOBASS career. Go big or go home

Whatsername 9:34 AM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nancy 9:38 AM  

Just found out by email that the LAT has accepted one of Will Nediger and my puzzles. They haven't scheduled it for publication yet, but have indicated that they plan to run it fairly quickly -- like perhaps September.

Anonymous 9:38 AM  

Association of ideas from a foreigner - The Ohio State University- Goodbye Columbus - Philip Roth

PH 9:47 AM  

Hillsborough is outside of Durham, home of the Durham Bulls. Bull Durham (1988) is a great movie, starring Susan Sarandon, Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins.

Strange clue for HOPS, but it's an amusing fun fact, which makes the puzzle a little more interesting. Theme was straight-forward, but the themers were good. Liked seeing GHERKIN. Love pickles. Nice puzzle overall :)

Anonymous 9:49 AM  

Easy and gripe-free with the exception of the GHERKIN clue. So many appropriate clues available, like "Cornichon, e.g." or just "Small pickle". Was the FLAWED clue the Editor's idea, or did he just miss it?
ROCK BASS are an easy catch and quite tasty. You could even fry some up for fish TACOs or sandwich them in PITAS .

Dorkito Supremo 9:53 AM  

That cross got me. A rare Tuesday DNF.

Whatsername 9:56 AM  

Very nice but felt very more like a Monday with the simplicity of the theme and fill. RP has a point on the NW corner. Could’ve gotten TONY S and GENOVIA in my sleep, but had no idea about MATTHEW and then of course good old ARES thrown in there. But at least as far as Greek gods go, he’s a pretty common one. Some pretty interesting entries scattered about. CAT SPA which describes my house 24/7, TEAM USA (Go Simone!) and ROCK BASS were my favorites.

Funny, I was hooked on James Gandolfino and his band of thieves and also liked the more recent Billions on Showtime, but never could get interested in Succession. Those people just bored me to tears. And unfortunately, in all three of those series the characters can barely utter a sentence without using an effing F word.

Dorkito Supremo 9:57 AM  

100% yes to this

Mack 9:58 AM  

That's a lot of complaining about a very common fish.

Actually the whole comment section is fully today of harrumphing about legitimate clues/answers (lol UMPIRE, seriously?), but so far no one has mentioned the two actual problems:

1.) An ALPHA wolf is not a real thing. You can of course get away with cluing it metaphorically (e.g. "Colloquial term for a dominant person"), but this clue is referring to real wolves in real wolf packs, which don't have ALPHAs. It's almost like asking "Dominant male in a pack of rats" and expecting the answer to be KING. No. A rat king is not a real thing, nor is an ALPHA wolf.

I'm not saying it's unfair, because everyone will understand the clue... It's just incorrect.

2.)For ACROBAT, perhaps they were thinking of "contortionist".

Tom T 10:07 AM  

Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) clues from the Tuesday grid:

1. F-____ on a DSLRC

2. Bad toy for bare feet

3. Off the rocks?

4. One prepared to work in taxing situations

5. Monster in our midst

Rex nailed it: this post-POST IT NOTES musical theme felt a little flat.

I do like the word PRAIRIE, bringing this to mind:

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few. (Emily Dickinson)

Answers to HDW clues:
1. STOP (from the S in 36A, HIDES, moves to the NW)
2. LEGO (the L in 53D, SNARL)
3. NEAT (as in a whiskey order, from the N in 30D, GHERKIN)
4. CPA (C in 43A, TACO)
5. ROO (R in 40D, ART)

OOPs, time to go ...

andrew 10:15 AM  

Kudos @EaterofSole 8:21 on your limerick!

BASSROCK reminded me of a ‘60s sitcom name - Dash Riprock from Hillbillies or Ann-Margrock (even in cel form, Ann-Margret was sexy. Hell, Wilma was a Betty too!) from Flintstones. But a perfectly legitimate answer.

Had Univac for ENIGMA initially so was thinking the unknown actor’s first name was MATTHus, but it all worked out. Like a little ROCKBASS-type bite from a Tuesday.

Gary Jugert 10:17 AM  

Gunky and unfunny. Disappointing theme. I think we can do better, yes? Let's try.

@GILL I. 1:12 AM Yesterday
I have been all over Amazon looking for SPANK NEYO. It sounded delicious. It must be if that RUDE MOOCH PALEO loves it. Any idea where they sell it? Maybe at THE Ohio University?

Propers: 8
Places: 2
Products: 7
Partials: 12 (booo)
Foreignisms: 5
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 34 (44%) (ouch)
Recipes: 3 (beta)

Funnyisms: 1 🤨

Tee-Hee: No SPLAT today, but a nice SWAT.

Uniclues:

1 A capella U-boaters.
2 Dance nights for insect toughs.
3 Retired mass murderer who took up farming.

1 SUB CHORAL GROUP
2 ALPHA ANTS HOPS
3 PRAIRIE ORC

My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Send in the perfumed thugs. QUEUE BRUTES, ESTEE.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Bobbydacron 10:17 AM  

Thats what i came to say. It was the perfect answer for this theme. Glad someone else picked up on it

Anonymous 10:17 AM  

I'm watching the Sopranos now. I had seen episodes here and there before, but this is my first time really watching it all the way through.

For what it's worth, while the show is technically about the mob, the mob is really just the vehicle. I'd consider it to be much more a show about masculinity, power dynamics, and interpersonal relationships. It's also really funny. I feel like that doesn't get mentioned enough.

Anonymous 10:19 AM  

That’s what i came to say. Perfect answer for today’s theme

Anonymous 10:19 AM  

It’s also a building in London

Anonymous 10:21 AM  

I came to say the same thing

Dorkito Supremo 10:23 AM  

Congrats! Please let us know here when it comes out.

Nancy 10:32 AM  

Very, very clever limerick, @Eater of Sole!! I'd missed it -- so thanks, @Andrew, for calling my attention to it.

John Face 10:38 AM  

Oh, good to see I wasn’t the only NATIC on HOV. Not living in an area where those exist, I completely forgot what the last letter was and cross was no help.

I made a silly mistake where I fat fingered in Rant instead of Rang, which crossed CHORALTROUP, which seemed reasonable. Took a bit to find that

Anonymous 10:41 AM  

@kitshef 7:20 AM It must be quite difficult trying to solve crossword puzzles when you’re unfamiliar with *major* pop culture figures like TONY SOPRANO

Masked and Anonymous 10:50 AM  

Holy singin rock bass, AcroBatman! … This puztheme really sings to U.

staff weeject pick: HOV. har. Well, the sad story here is mainly that M&A automatically splatzed in POV, instead. Got my puzword abbreves all mixed up. WAMAB [Wrong Again, M&A Breath].

best SUSword: WOAH. What @RP said, about that puppy.

Like for many others, that NW corner was mighty tough solvequestin, at our house. There was my POV goof. There was WOAH, sayin "Woe unto yer nanoseconds". There was misspelt no-know MATTPEW [sic]. There was no-knows GENOVIA & GHERKIN & ADA.
ENIGMA, indeed.

some fave stuff: PROBONO & BOHO. ACROBAT & its clue. CATS PA. PRAIRIE. ENIGMA.

Thanx for gangin up on us, Ms. Sinclair & Ms. Walker darlins. Liked yer theme -- and the puz, once I got outta that pesky NW corner.

Masked & Anonymo3Us


**gruntz**

Anonymous 11:13 AM  

I thought this was very easy. My solve time was 32 seconds longer than my personal best. I will not watch Succession for the same reason as Rex but I will also never watch the Sopranos because as an Italian American, I hate all things that play into the mob-related stereotype.

GILL I. 11:16 AM  

WOAH....Oh great...now I have to remember another different spelling? Oh, wait! It stands for World Organization for Animal Health. There, I feel much better. Do I LMAOF?

Pickle is a relish...GHERKIN is a cucumber. Phew or is it fhew.....strange spelling solved.

The puzzle!. I shall join @Nancy today. I don't mind some trivia but good gravy, this oozed all over the place. Learning that Ohio State has a trademark on THE...Why? ADA Twist? ANTS are foes of the Grasshoppers....HOPS? Ay dios mio. Enough said. Oh, wait! CHORAL GROUP...Thud. Like eating a TACO without TACO sauce.

Anonymous 11:16 AM  

I taught Ohio State for about 30 years, but I grew up in Toledo, which is the DMZ between Michigan and Ohio State. Emphasizing the “the” is a go to joke in Ohio, and even the most devoted buckeye says it with a twinkle. Enjoyed the puzzle a lot.

Dan P 11:20 AM  

OK, Succession was vulgar and obscene and disgusting (as was the Sopranos) but it was also a compelling depiction of the depravity that can accompany wealth and power. Both my wife and I found it engrossing, even though our tastes are often different. Macfadyen's acting was amazing, especially since he played such an irretrievably slimy character. But if we still need a more pleasant reference, he was a terrific Darcy in Pride and Prejudice 20 years ago.

Kate Esq 11:20 AM  

There is, of course, no inherent gender to pop culture, but this puzzle is girly in a good way. I would say that most women of my acquaintance (ranging from my Gen X self to my Gen Z daughter and her friends) have more than a passing acquaintance with the Kingdom of Genovia. And Matthew MacFadyen was also Mr. Darcy in the excellent Joe Wright film of Pride and Prejudice. And I appreciate any mention of Barbie, especially Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa house.

I’m just saying that in the usual sea of obscure sports trivia and Star Wars references, it’s refreshing to find some references that are on my admittedly girly wavelength. (Again with the disclaimers that women also can love sports and Star Wars, and men can have a strong appreciation for the Barbie Movie and Jane Austen).

Agree that the revealer fell a little flat but I liked most of the themed clues - Palo Alto was a good one, though maybe too easy for those not from California and familiar with a whole slew of SV towns. I guess Palo Alto and maybe Menlo Park (Mountain View? Cupertino thanks to our weather app?) are the first ones that spring to mind, but I was over here trying to fit Los Altos in there.
Anyway, I liked it, found it very easy, but not disappointingly so.

Whatsername 11:20 AM  

@Eater of Sole (8:21) Pure genius! That should be etched in stone somewhere. Or at least posted as an Internet meme.

@Nancy (9:38) Happy to hear the LAT has once again recognized your particular brand of genius. Please keep us posted on publication date.

@Anonymous (10:17) I agree with your spot-on review of The Sopranos. However you interpret it, again . . . genius.

@Dorkito Supremo: Your kitty is gorgeous. 😻

Whatsername 11:27 AM  

@GILL (11:16) I always thought a cucumber became a pickle as soon as it was sealed in the brine. And a GHERKIN was just a little tiny one. Well anyway, that’s what they called it on Sex And The City. WOAH! LMAO! 🤣

jae 11:38 AM  

Easy-medium. Not knowing GENOVIA and misspelling were GHERKIN where my main stumble blocks.

Well executed theme, solid Tuesday, liked it.

Cliff 11:40 AM  

Living in Oregon, and spending half my life in the fishing town of Newport, Hillsboro HOPS and ROCK BASS were both gimmes for me. Which is fair play, because often NYT crosswords are too East Coast oriented for a small town Oregon boy.

A 11:46 AM  

Yes to what @Rex said - okay theme, meh revealer, pop culture trivia, side-eye to ARMSPAN. The top to bottom SATB feature was nice. Thought maybe Reef BASS were a thing. I didn’t notice the ROCK dupe, though - if the clue had been “Climbers notch” we’d have had a dupe-free day. Dupeless dreaming…

Snooped around the grid afterward and found things to like:
ARIA/CHORAL cross
TACO/PITAS cross
VIBE/EVEN TENOR cross
ALPHA (wolf)/SNARL symmetry
HOT DATE/TOO CUTE symmetry
and the whole TEAM USA ACROBAT TOEHOLD ARMSPAN GROUP.

Yesterday just uno DO, today DOS.

Speaking of unO, how about all those O-endings? CPO PRO BONO SOPRANO ALTO TACO ADO.

A birthday SOPRANO (with piano, BASS, drums and a TBONE)

PS. Thanks to @Mskare from yesterday for reminding me of Joachin’s Dictum. Guess I had recalled @Z expounding on it more than once and forgot he wasn’t the originator. Apologies, @Joachin!

Anonymous 11:50 AM  

aye, but you didn't lose any letters journeying the oregon trail.

Anonymous 11:53 AM  

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! Nice to see some local beer-named minor sports league trivia for our neighbors in Hillsboro. Did you know Oregon is home to some 300 breweries? As for hops, there are 14 varietals (and counting!) that thrive here.
Support your local minor league teams this summer. Go Hops! Go Pickles!
Stay weird.

jb129 12:03 PM  

WOAH was a woe. Never heard of ARMSPAN. Agree totally with @Anonyous 10:17. But still good to see Tony :)

MJB 12:23 PM  

Does the trademarked "The" also apply to The George Washington University?

jberg 12:32 PM  

@Nancy from yesterday - and believe it or not I only knew "Deportee" from the Kingston Trio! No idea Woody wrote it.

sharonak 12:48 PM  

@eaterofsole 8:21
Loved your poem, lol, and tend to agree.

Tho the misspelled "woah" bothered me more.

Anonymous 12:55 PM  

Easy except the NW which held me up a bit, with the unknowns MATTHEW and GENOVIA. At least MATTHEW is a recognizable name, for GENOVIA I needed all crosses. I knew ENIGMA, from there I moved across the grid to PALO ALTO (which I didn't realize was a themer), then back into the NW with TONY SOPRANO (I did see the theme with SOPRANO and ALTO).

Good thing I remembered GHERKIN, I was expecting the other meaning of "pickle" there (sticky situation). Also, I thought GHERKINs were just cucumbers.

Anonymous 1:16 PM  

As a season ticket holder to the mighty Everett AquaSox, here in the Upper Left corner of the Pacific Northwest, I didn't even blink filling in the mascot of our frequent opponent, the Hillsboro Oregon HOPS. Even better, we're ahead of them by two victories in the High-A standings. Go Frogs!

SFR 2:09 PM  

Minor quibble with 48A: The fish and the singer are pronounced differently.

GILL I. 2:30 PM  

@Gary J 10:17.....[sigh] must I spell everything out? SPANK NEYO stands for (are you ready?): Spanish Paprika no Ketchup. Followed by: Not Everyday Yogurt Option....PALEO swears by it and you can find it on aisle 3.

@Whatsername...The Brits tend to get all kinds of things wrong. Just ask them how to spell tire.

@A and @Beezer. Thank you for the vote of confidence

Anonymous 2:49 PM  

Thank you for this! I can't help but think that had the girlier clues been swapped out for sports trivia and the like, there wouldn't be so many comments about how unreasonable and unknowable the answers were. Male-coded trivia is viewed as worth knowing, or at least as being within the realm of common knowledge, while female-coded trivia is seen as niche and frivolous.

I thought this Tuesday was a breeze (in a good way), and I think we could all use more puzzles for the girls and gays.

Anonymous 2:56 PM  

Two thumbs down for this one… Too easy even for a Tuesday and boring

Anonymous 3:00 PM  

I think I got my personal best on today's. Finished it faster than some Monday's; and I had no idea about MATTHEW and could not tell you how to spell GENOVIA before today.

Anoa Bob 3:04 PM  

My grandparents had a working farm and, along with other farm animals, had some horses. My uncle had a mule that he used to plow his large garden. He even let me plow with the mule a few times when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old. Cool experience!

Based on the sound of the single syllable word I heard as a kid, both WHOA and WOAH look FLAWED to me. They both have a two-syllable VIBE. I would go with just WO are maybe WOH. Nah, just WO.

I wonder if the CAT'S PA was an ALPHA.

Um, bye.

Jack Stefano 3:40 PM  

Jackie Jr. took her to the city to see Aida.

I eat her?

Anonymous 3:45 PM  

That looks like an American pickle/British gherkin

Mr. Benson 4:09 PM  

Proud former resident of Hillsboro, OR (home of the HOPS) over here. We’re on the map! (Went to Hillsboro High School, or Hilhi as we call it.)

Jack Stefano 4:30 PM  

That’s awesome!

Anonymous 4:55 PM  

Augurissimo!!!

Anonymous 6:00 PM  

@TomT
Thanks for Emily's lovely poem - one of my favorites!

ps: writing this in Gales Addition, just down the street from you in P.A.

Cam 6:30 PM  

I didn’t think this clue was too hard, but granted, I love me some great MiLB hats! Love it when As for Rex’s thoughts on NC, that’s Hillsbourough.

I love the Eugene alternate “Exploding Whales” design - great hat.

Anonymous 8:02 PM  

F Vincent
Re umpire clue
Did you overlook the question mark?
That means there’s a trick involved. The clue is fine with the “?”

Anonymous 8:09 PM  

Mack about acrobat
Clues are hints not definitions
Close enough for crosswords

Anonymous 8:34 PM  

When John Stewart was in the group.

Anonymous 4:38 PM  

i also hate that "The" in "The Ohio State University." But i think i do understand what they are trying to say. in many midwestern states there are 2 public universities. for example in Michigan there is University of Michigan and also there is Michigan State University. and in michigan other states like this the "university of michigan" is more prestigious than michigan state university. iowa, minnesota- same deal. but there is no University of Ohio. and Ohio state university is the most prestigious public university in Ohio. so i guess their students and alums got tired of people saying. oh, you went to Ohio state, i guess you didn't get into University of Ohio huh?

spacecraft 11:02 AM  

Hey, it's TACO Tuesday! Unfortunately, that's the best thing about today's puzzle. Theme: meh. Revealer: uber-meh. Fill: spotty. Bogey.

Wordle bogey.

Anonymous 1:05 PM  

Not bad. A bit too much three-letter flotsam but besides that it was pretty good.

Anonymous 4:21 PM  

Love how people come on this blog just to kvetch. And all just because of Rex's everyday shtick. I know what an hov lane is, even though I don't drive, and they don't exist in my state. I know what rock bass are, and I don't fish, but I know human beings who do. One of my brothers loved fishing, and would often get up before dawn to do it. Some species of fish are more active at certain times of the day, and therefore easier to catch then. A definite female voice today, and there's nothing wrong with that. Some would even say: it's a good thing. 😁

Anonymous 4:35 PM  

Outside of the Xword puzzle, I have never seen a cat spa. I've heard of cat friendly places, though. Now, doggie daycare I've seen, and in fact, there's one about a mile from me.

Burma Shave 7:14 PM  

BOHO VIBE

ADA isn’t TOOCUTE, but wait,
THE TART is HOT but FLAWED:
any MAIL’s PAL on A HOTDATE,
she’s not A DAME, just ABROAD.

--- TONY BASS

rondo 7:43 PM  

ROCKBASS a gimme, especially after the other voices were gone, highest to lowest, in order. Any unknowns crossed so hard it was barely noticeable.
Wordle par.

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