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Princess who helped Theseus escape the Minotaur / TUE 7-16-2024 / London-based cosmetics giant / "United States of America" channel / Major metals manufacturer
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Constructor: Kelly Richardson
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: NOT MY CUP OF TEA — how I feel about this theme; there's (only) two tea-related puns, three stacked entries inside black squares that resemble a teacup (although I was hoping the grid art here would be something to do with martinis, given the shape closer to the top)
Word of the Day: SKIES (22A: "Blue ___", classic Irving Berlin tune) —
"Blue Skies" is a popular song, written by Irving Berlin in 1926."Blue Skies" is one of many popular songs whose lyrics use a "bluebird of happiness" as a symbol of cheer: "Bluebirds singing a song/Nothing but bluebirds all day long." The sunny optimism of the lyrics are undercut by the minor key giving the words an ironic feeling. [wikipedia]
• • •
Hey hi hello and howdy, Christopher Adams here filling in for Rex for the first time in (checks watch) too long. Good to be back, wish it was with a puzzle I liked more than this. Didn't dislike it, but again, not my cup of tea. I can absolutely see why some people would really love this; I just found it hard to ignore how minimal the theme was (only two punny entries plus a little bit of grid art around three short entries), especially when parts of it didn't fully connect with me.Theme answers:
- [1959 Marilyn Monroe film ... or what can be said of the drink featured in today's puzzle?] SOME LIKE IT HOT
- [What someone might remark after drinking the blend at the heart of this puzzle?] NOT MY CUP OF TEA
- I'm not typing out the clues but PEACH PEKOE and ASSAM are all clued as teas (w/r/t to their origins) and stacked inside the teacup at the center
That said, the idea of mixing three different types of tea in one cup...bleargh. Makes sense why you would say "not my cup of tea" after drinking that, but that's a bit stretchy because it is your cup of tea, you made it, and why would you mix those all together unless you knew you liked it? And if you didn't make it, then the reaction's more "no thanks" or "disgusting" or something else. IDK, I'm maybe definitely overthinking this terrible pun, and plenty of people will like it and find it fine and not think about it for anywhere near as long as I have. But not me; like the cup of tea at the center of this puzzle, it's leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
KNICK [New York basketball player] — Misread that as "baseball player" at first, saw it was five letters, and was like "oh god, not NYMET, that's awful fill and also dupes the clue" before realizing the error. Anyway, I'm wearing this shirt while writing this; let's go Mets baby love da Mets.
On the other hand, the Marilyn Monroe themer hit home perfectly for me. Yes, some people do like it hot, while some prefer to drink ice(d) tea**. Wish there were more theme clues that were this solid. Even if there was only one more themer like this, I'd like this puzzle a lot more. But when there's only two punny theme entries outside of the grid art, they've both got to be super spot-on.
**Include or delete that D as you see fit in reading this; I'm not discussing whether it's ICE TEA or ICED TEA, but feel free to make your opinion known in the comments, and know that there's one (1) correct answer to this debate.
In the end, only one good theme clue isn't enough to make me like it. But that one good clue, plus two theme entries that would be great assets in a themeless, as well as a few other entries like HOUSE CAT and THAT'S THAT—that's enough for me to not dislike it. And YMMV—like I said, it's somebody's cup of tea, but not mine. I suppose my take on this puzzle is like a cup of tea that's sat out too long—in the end, neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm.
Olio:
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
- STEVE [Martin of "Only Murders in the Building"] — I think it's well known that Martins Steve and Short are both in the show and share that part of their name; why I'm including this here is my habit of solving the first row and then immediately switching to the downs to solve a bunch of entries with starting letters already in place...and even having the first letter in place didn't disambiguate this.
- TRICK [Group of cards in hearts or bridge] — I don't know why "group" bothers me so much here; perhaps it's how vague it is, although at the same time I don't know what word I'd replace it with (short of rewriting the whole clue).
- OVERSLEPT [Didn't wake up in a timely manner] — I know the NYT is pretty lax on dupes between clues and entries in the grid, but the overlap here with AWAKEN at 11A is too much to ignore.
- THAT'S THAT! ["End of discussion!"] — And that's that for today's writeup!
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102 comments:
Today I learned “ambience” can also be spelled “ambiance”
Hi Christopher, nice writeup. I share your ambivalence about the theme; but the grid art cup was creative and I'm actually thinking those might not be a bad mix of teas!
Re "ice(d) tea"... last time I was in the States on a work trip (log home show in the Cow Palace in San Francisco) I ordered Iced Tea in a restaurant, took a sip, made a face. My co-worker said: "Unsweetened, right?" Turns out: Canadian iced tea is sweet; American, not necessarily. Barbarians!
I tried solving this down clues only but ended up cheating when it grew too tedious. Turned out I had a couple of down answers wrong, e.g. ALWAYS instead of AS EVER for "Invariably" (seriously, can you blame me).
I'm not partial to either ICE TEA or ICED TEA... but ICE TEA doesn't give you a kealoa with ICE BEER when the clue is [Cold brew] or something like that. I agree with Christopher on a few points - theme was meh, the best part was the stack of tea names, and THAT'S THAT is nice fill. AND, I was also expecting a martini puzzle when I saw that a drink was involved. ANOTHER martini puzzle, since we've had one on a Thursday this year.
[Gift set for a newborn] for LAYETTE - yesterday we had [Present at birth] for INNATE and my first instinct was ONESIE. I was solving downs-only, so I couldn't check the crossings right away.
[Tenet] for PRECEPT - is this really a Tuesday clue-answer pair? PRECEPT isn't exactly a common word, and using common crosswordese in clues is perfectly fine, but I wouldn't expect it on a Tuesday. But I do like when constructors do it, it's a way of saying "by now you really should know what THIS word means". But I can see it being a tough(-ish) spot for less experienced solvers, that and the crosswordese teas that ABUT each other.
Easy, no WOEs and no erasures. Smooth with a bit of grid art, cute idea, some fun long downs, liked it quite a bit more than @Christopher did, but then I’m not a tea drinker.
“Only Murders in the Building”, “The Bear”, and “Reservation Dogs” (all on Hulu) are three of the best shows on TV (IMHO).
@Christopher: If you brewed tea, waited for it to cool, then poured it into an ice cube tray and left it in the freezer for a while you'd have "ice tea". Actually it'd be "tea ice" but that's not a thing. Brewed tea served over ice is "iced tea". @okanaganer: It can be sweetened or not, based on local custom or the preference of the proprietor. It's always best to ask.
I fell into the Martin trap at 6D: Short before STEVE. That and Grit before GUTS at 8D were my only overwrites. Oh wait, also AMBIeNCE before AMBIANCE at 40D before reading the clue.
Wanted "AMBIeNCE" instead of AMBIANCE and couldn't see that TEe was supposed to be TEA (doh) for the longest time.
Also, the EHS corner was a little weird... do Canadians say "Eh" or "Aye"?
Fun puzzle, thanks!
Didn't recognize the grid art as a teacup, but I got the theme right away. That, plus mostly straightforward fill, made it very easy.
My only stumbling block was PRECEPT. I had "pretext" at first, even though that meant the bear's name started with "X." I knew PEKOE and /ASSAM, which made the center tea collection doable
I’m sure one can order peach tea in a southern restaurant, somewhere. But it’s not “popular in the South”.
Iced is correct. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
My last square was the Y in LAYETTE which I was convinced was going to be wrong and was anticipating looking for a typo - then I got the happy music and was like WTF is a LAYETTE ? The first definition I found is pretty much exactly the same as the clue - some type of a gift set for a newborn. So I kind of learned something today (“kind of” because I’ll probably forget it by lunch time).
I think a minimalist theme that contributes at least something of value and doesn’t gunk up the grid is a virtue, so I would give the constructor a thumbs up for a job well done, and would welcome this approach more frequently. Save the stunt puzzles and the cryptic themes for Thursdays.
I know. It should be easy. But I got stuck in the stack.
Thanks for filling in today, Christopher. Hand up for just about all the errors others have mentioned: Short, AMBIeNCE,etc.
Was “super spot-on” a tea-related pun?
Absolutely iced tea. Ice tea would be water.
About as easy as Tuesday ever gets.
Iced tea preferred (as a spelling, not as a drink), but ice tea happily accepted if that's your bag.
Nothing in the grid resembles a teacup.
Some nice fill (ARIADNE, WINNOWED, AMBIANCE) and nicely junk-free, but a weak theme in a week that has been bad for themes (it's been a weak week).
Oh, I very much liked the quirky theme, a blend of movie title, three random tea types, and a punny phrase that all together landed just right, IMO. That teacup in the grid also looks like a smile, and this theme filled me with a smiley mood.
But what sealed the deal about the loveliness of this puzzle, to me, was the beauty outside the theme, gorgeous answers: ALCOVES, PRECEPT, SHAM, LAYETTE, WINNOWED, STORIED, AMBIANCE, THAT’S THAT.
That is, a complete feel-good solving experience. Smiling at the theme, plus oohing and aahing everywhere else.
Sparked by lovely serendipities. A rare-in-crosswords five-letter palindrome (SAGAS), ATE crossing ATE in the SW corner, and the theme-echo coda (TEE).
Let me add a standing-O for the STEVE clue that also fit the answer “Short”. Brava on coming up with that!
Intelligence, humor, and quirkiness – lots of personality here from you on your debut, Kelly. I’m eager to see more from you … please! Congratulations, and thank you for your sweet and day-brightening creation!
Great write up! And I am not just saying that because I agree on all points.
Another one here in the "WTF is a LAYETTE" camp, but the crosses were all straightforward so OK.
Spelled ICED, but pronounced "ice" because who wants to take the time to separate a final D sound from a following initial T sound?
Oh, and PEACHes have just come into season around here. Glory!
Missed opportunity at 5D featuring recent history-making deal w new superstar Jalen Brunson. Go Knicks!!
I’m sure that SOME, LIKE I, THOT it was way too easy.
@SouthsideJohnny - Agreed about minimalist themes. Better to keep it light than to turn the rest of the grid into gunk.
Also I never knew Iced vs Ice was a debate. The real debate is whether it should be sweetened. I say it should ALWAYS be unsweetened unless you’re drinking Sweet Tea (which is far more popular in the south than Peach Tea).
FH
Easy, even for a Tuesday. But good, IMHO (I don't overthink these, like Rex and his fill-ins - - they're crossword puzzles, intended to be a fleeting diversion, not a Russian novel).
When I saw the PEACH atop the PEKOE atop the ASSAM, it looked for all the world like the three teas were being served in the same cup. As a coffee drinker, I have no idea whether PEKOE would mix well with ASSAM, but I was pretty sure that the PEACH would be an outlier. "I would never drink that concoction," I said to myself.
So that when NOT came in at 51A, I immediately thought: "OMG, the answer is NOT MY CUP OF TEA!!!" And I laughed out loud.
What a delightful, original, and funny puzzle! I absolutely loved it!
The grid is no slouch either -- filled as it is with grownup non-Tuesdayish words like ALIENATE and WINNOWED and AMBIANCE. And there are almost no names.
Here's an optimal choice for a puzzle I would give to a newbie solver whom I cared for and respected. (You should know that my newbie solver might be new to crosswords, but she's no dummy.) I think that she'd solve it without too much trouble, but that it would hold her interest throughout, and that it would give her a nice chuckle at the end. It would make her want to come back for more puzzles in the future, which is the whole idea. This is a superior early week puzzle -- and I wish there could be more like it.
Had PUSSYCAT and thought, "I guess we are still allowed to say that." Maybe not?
LOVE LOVE LOVE THE SHEA STADIUM SHIRT !!! SO TRUE…IYKYK …LFGM !
Got completely naticked at ALCOA crossing PEKOE and ASSAM (never heard any of those words before - not a tea guy), so for the first time ever had to cheat on a Tuesday and just run through vowels til I got there. Also in the WTF is a LAYETTE camp. And it’s definitively ICED tea. It is tea that has been cooled down and has ice in it. Were it a frozen pop of tea or something you could call it an ice tea, but in liquid form? It’s iced and there should be no argument.
I like English Breakfast tea which according to Wiki is indeed a blend of Assam, Singalese (Pekoe?) and Kenyan teas. But where I live (Israel), when ordering at a cafe (no tearooms here) I have to tell the waiter/ress "English tea" because almost no one here drinks tea with milk like me (I hear that the late Queen poured the milk first, by the way; I haven't yet reached that degree of Anglophilia). If you don't specify "English tea" you'll get what the English in reprisal call "Russian tea" - black, with a sprig of mint (that's the Middle Eastern custom), and a slice of lemon only if you ask for it. And it never comes in the iconic cup; only in a long glass, sometimes with a handle; often without - to warm the hands in Siberia, I guess, (in Tel Aviv right now at 3 p.m. it's 90 F in the shade with 60% humidity, considered an easing of the heat stress factor). in classy places you may get the glass ensconced in a filigreed silver holder with a handle, but that's exceptional these days. In short, here a cup is just for coffee.
Hey All !
Tea time. For our British friends. Tea never caught on here as much as coffee. There's a lot of TEE Time here, though.
Nice fill around a triple stack of words. Left/Right symmetry, with a ton of Blockers. 46, Holy Moly, 38 is normal max. It's the extra 8 in the NW/NE corners. Leads to better fill, and amazingly doesn't seem to clog the grid. If you squint, the corners could be eyes, with the upper U shaped Blocker pattern the mouth, the Tea Cup about to be sipped.
Hello, reviewer Christopher, I do believe you are overthinking it. 😁 The clue does say "What someone might remark after drinking the blend", so it works.
Anyway, good puz for a Tuesday. Now to continue to drink my coffee, sorry TEA.
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Agree with Lewis 100%. Lots of great words, very little junk. Nice!
PEKOE/ASSAM + ALCOA required some annoying guessing but otherwise nice, clean fun.
Peach tea isn’t “popular in the South” and “layette” isn’t really a Tuesday word but otherwise fine?
Delightful is the word to describe this gem of a Tuesday. Grid art, brilliant construction, some clever clues, and a teeny bit of challenge here and there. I particularly loved the three blends combined in the center section. And - just a personal observation here but - 32A appears as a little saucer on top of the CUP letting the TEA steep while I rush around to get ready for the day after having OVERSLEPT. Just a really fun Tuesday and a dynamite debut. Congratulations Kelly, on a spectacular first outing!
As for the debate,* well ICED definitely is correct but most people say it as “ice.” As it happens, THAT was my choice of beverage this morning because it’s too HOT for coffee. Like a fine wine, it pairs beautifully with my breakfast of Black Diamond watermelon, considered the very best in these parts and grown in the Missouri Bootheel.
* I feel the same way about saddle shoes. They are two toned, not TWO TONE. Just sayin.
Ho-hum day on the Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) front--SOBS (S in 38A), NETS (N in 30A, ARIADNE--nice word), and the answer to this clue:
Sow's counterpart
(Answer below)
Smooth ride through this Tuesday. Like others, I enjoyed so many longer "words to tip one's hat to" in an early week grid. LAYETTE completely new to me--I better up my baby stuff game with a first grandchild coming in November!
Theme was OK. Thought the SOME LIKE IT HOT answer came in too early, but it did provide a slight thematic misdirection, as the word "drink" in the clue left me pondering Irish coffee or some other HOT alcoholic beverage.
Couldn't get a handle on that TEA CUP--hope there's a cardboard sleeve!
Answer to the HDW clue:
REAP (begins with the R in 23A, TIRE) Funny thing--I was questioning my use of the term "counterpart" in my clue. I decide to do a search: "is reap a counterpart for sow," and the first place it took me was a crossword puzzle clue writing site with "Sow's counterpart" as a clue for REAP ! lol So much for my quest for originality.
AS EVER,
Tom T (NOT TOM E, 44A)
Even jailbirds found this one easy. It was NOCONTEST.
Headline in the National Enquirer: An ALIENATE my HOUSECAT!
If a kitchenette is a small kitchen, what is a LAYETTE? Could be TeeHee material for @Gary Jugert.
I took my granddaughter to an old ice cream shop recently and noticed that the signs (seemingly originals from a hundred years or so ago) all referred to the product as Iced Cream. Does this bear on the ice/iced tea question? I doubt it.
Very fun debut puzzle. Thanks and congrats, Kelly Richardson.
This theme is pretty weak TEA. Fun mirror symmetry though, with some nice long entries.
Not sure why we needed 16 rows for this, but I'll trust that the constructor found it necessary.
Sorta-fun discovery: The grid contains TEA in several other languages -- French (THEIR), German (TEE) and Turkish (CAYS). And in many other languages it is TE, which of course appears in many places.
Errata: I figuratively struggled to get out of bed this morning -- wakeup for AWAKEN, sleptlate for OVERSLEPT. Also HappyCAT; not proud of that one.
Good write-up (the central cup "does not runneth over" -- excellent!). Thankful that Christopher spared us the MENSA-triggered rant that Rex would have delivered.
Made me think of the old Stones’ song, All Sold Out.
You sold me out and THATSTHAT!
Neither "ice tea" nor “iced tea". It's either "sweet tea" or "unsweet tea".
Much too easy.
Peach tea is not so popular in the South, or anywhere. Pekoe is not a variety; it's a grade, or quality, of tea. That's two weak brews in the cup -- a poor pour.
“Eh?” Means, “What?” The Canadian, “Ay?” Means, “Right?”
I want to say this was an utter slog, but I’ll be kind and just say it wasn’t my cup of tea.
All the mulch is unloaded from my pickup and spread around the redone (by my wife) gardens at the local thrift store and although we started at 8 to be done before it got too hot, it was already too hot when we started. We're headed for the 90's again today, so it could have been much worse (hi @Roo).
Anyway, that's why I'm late. Found the puzzle easy enough, but if you gave me unlimited guesses to fill in the blank for ______tea, it would take me a very long time indeed to come up with PEACH. My idea of a popular southern tea is "sweet tea" as someone else has mentioned.
Hand up for AMBIENCE, which is now making me wonder how 'ambient" and AMIANCE are related.
Our "purring pets" would often come and curl up on my chest when I was relaxing in my recliner, and last night I dreamed that an otter came and did the same thing while I was floating on my back in our local pond. Best dream in a long time or best dream ever?
Perfectly fine Tuesday, KR. Kept Rattling off answers in a hurry and bang I was done, but thanks for a nice amount of fun.
Saw Some Like It Hot last week. It doesn't hold up as a movie, but great seeing Marilyn Monroe.
I think people say "ice tea" for the same reason they say "shave ice." Easier to say.
I thought this was a fine Tuesday offering. I immediately put in SOMELIKEITHOT and was off to the races with tea on my mind. My ONLY tea mess up was swEeT before PEACH.
@Okanaganer…I am not a hot or cold tea person (other than very occasional hot herbal) but you do not have to go very much south of the Mason-Dixon Line to find that MANY restaurants pre-sweeten their iced tea and you MAY not be able to get it unsweetened. To me, this is weird. IF I drank tea, I’d like to be able to determine HOW sweet I want it. It reminds me of my first trip as an adult to NYC and ordered a small coffee from a Central Park street vender. He says “Do you want it regulah”? Thinking this meant the alternative to decaf I said yes please. I like my coffee black and he hands me what is obviously coffee with cream (and apparently sugar), so I say…excuse me sir, this coffee has cream in it. He “barked” at me “YOU said REGULAH”! I still look back and think, “didn’t they have tourists in Central Park in 1986 (?)…sheesh.
Years ago my mother took my sisters and me to a sort-of-fancy restaurant. We all wanted iced tea with our meal. We all got a glass of iced water with a tea bag on the side.
I'm more of a coffee guy. And LAYETTE is new to me.
Propers: 3
Places: 0
Products: 7
Partials: 1 (wha?!)
Foreignisms: 1
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Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 12 (16%) (holy cats!)
Recipes: 0 (beta)
Funnyisms: 1 🤨
Tee-Hee: So grown up this puzzle.
Uniclues:
1 Elaborate stories involving you and houses of ill-repute.
2 Smart bar.
3 The purpose of every Instagram account I follow.
4 Add chocolate chips and love.
1 TRICK SAGAS
2 MENSA OASIS
3 STORIED HOUSE CAT
4 STIR IN AMBIENCE
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Jokey greeting between two office holders with disdain for the electorate. HOW'S CAMPAIGN PROMISES?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Well gee, isn't it nice to be able to add sugar to suit your own taste, so it's not cloyingly sweet ?
PG TIPs....! The only tea my Scouser other half will drink. Boil water and wait for the whistle....Add it to a fine china cup I bought at a thrift store...Two bags, please. Let it steep for exactly 4 and a half minutes....Add milk and husband is good to go. I, on the other hand, will only drink my Peet's coffee. When I'm feeling in need of calories, I might do a foamed milk and French Vanilla Delight.
Oh...the puzzle and the three blends. ASSAM is the blend to go. PEKOE is bland . PEACH? NOT MY CUP OF TEA. This was fun. It wasn't exactly a whiz bang endeavor because I can't spell. Which is correct AMBI(A)NC or AMBIENCE? How does one spell ARIADNE and I even had trouble with ALIENATE.
I liked AWAKEN on top of OVER SLEPT and MENSA with PEASANT... and my final YEAH followed by EHS.
A fine cuppa for a Tuesday. I'll drink to that!
Hi Chris, thanks for stepping in.
This was a delightful Tuesday, Kelly & congrats on your debut. Hope to see you again :)
@Raymond (8:36) I enjoyed reading about the different tea-drinking customs, and especially about The Queen‘s habit of pouring her milk first. I read in a book once that for proper British tea, the water must still be boiling when it is poured over the leaves. Fascinating stuff. Also interesting is the fact that the weather you describe in Tel Aviv is virtually identical to conditions in the middle of the U.S. yesterday at the same time, specifically the southern part of Missouri. I know this because I checked the weather report at about that time of day to see if it was too hot to start spreading 32 bags of mulch (hi @pablo). The answer was definitely yes.
@Beezer (10:28) I chuckled at your Central Park coffee experience. Knew I’d heard that expression someplace before and searched until I finally found this cute scene from the movie Look Who’s Talking Too, the setting of course, in New York City.
Pussycat isn't coarse slang, but it is sure to invite coarse puns if you are in good company.
Not bad, for a TuesPuz. Had the E/W symmetry teacup and a challengin [at our house] mix of teas. And lotsa fillins of interest.
staff weeject pick: TEE. By the time U get to this final puzentry, it really sounds familiar.
Nice weeject stacks in the SW & SE, btw.
best SUSword: REHEM.
total TuesPuz no-know; PEPPA. Not my cuppa.
some other faves included: PRECEPT. HOUSECAT. THATSTHAT. NOCONTEST. TRICK/KNICK. The darin tea stack in the middle [which was a real nanosecond-taxin area, for M&A's solvequest]. SOMELIKEITHOT themer [M&A fave Monroe flick].
Thanx for all them tasty spots, Ms. Richardson darlin. And congratz on yer very well-crafted debut.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
**gruntz**
My son has a set of glass cups that are somehow insulated so that they keep the beverage hot but don't warm up on the outside. He uses them for coffee, but they would work for tea, and there's one of them in the middle of the puzzle.
I did like the puzzle, but the three teas are a weak point: two are varieties of actual tea, while the third is tea with peach syrup mixed in. It should be either a third variety of tea, like green, or black; or there should be only one variety, plus PEACH, plus some herbal concoction. But that's a very minor problem.
By the way, I'd never heard of PEACH tea, and wasn't sure what it was, so I looked it up and found a recipe in Southern Living. In its true form it requires fresh peaches, so it is both seasonal and confined to the peach-growing areas, while sweet tea is year-round.
@Beezer, interesting story about the coffee in Central Park. "Regulah" meant the same thing here in Massachusetts when I first arrived (1964), but it has been displaced by Starbucks and its ilk. Many people around here still think Dunkin is the best coffee ever made, but even there the term has gone out of favor.
I think the constructor needed the extra row because of the cup--otherwise there would have been way too many 3-letter downs.
No it can’t!
I actually think the CAYS/LAYETTE cross is a little tricky for a Tuesday. More generally, just wasn't my cup of tea...
I want some of what you folks who see a tea cup in the grid are drinking. Or is it something that you STIR IN your tea that does the TRICK?
Here's a TIP from a long-time green tea drinker. To avoid any bitterness use water at 170°F/21°C and steep tea continuously while drinking.
Grew up in the South (and once lived near ALCOA, TN.) and never heard of PEACH tea.
Okay, going to stare at those 46 black squares for a while longer to see if a CUP OF TEA will emerge. Um, bye.
Uh, erm, make that 170°F/77°C.
I keep looking at the grid art and I'm just not seeing the cup. Before solving, I considered it might be a clown face.
I have a strong memory of being in a cafe as a kid and, having ordered iced tea as a beverage, continuing to add sugar until it was sitting at the bottom undissolved and still thinking I didn't like the stuff. What inspired me to ask for it, I no longer remember.
I did not overthink the theme answer of NOT MY CUP OF TEA so I found that perfectly acceptable per the clue.
Thanks, Kelly Richardson!
What was Christopher on about re overlap between 11A 32A.?? They were two different, though related things. Personally I enjoy finding those sorts of entries. I cannot imagine why it would be considered a thing to avoid.
@Beezer, @Whatsername, @jberg et al -- I don't think I've ever ordered a cup of coffee that came pre-sugared. Well, yes, maybe in Puerto Rico when I ordered "Puerto Rican coffee". It was the best coffee I ever drank -- both pre-sugared and pre-creamed -- thick, rich, frothy and voluptuous. But because I tend to find black coffee so unpleasantly bitter, I tend to hit the Splenda hard. Plenty of milk too. I've often been told by coffee mavens that I'm not a "real" coffee lover and I'm probably not. But I love coffee the not-at-all-bitter way I make it for myself and feel deep down that I'm "better than Starbucks." No one I know has ever agreed with that.
Unlike coffee, every other kind of drink can be WAY too sweet for me -- and it's mostly because of unspeakable powdered mixes. Not only have I have been served iced tea that was sickeningly sweet, but also Daiquiris, Margaritas, and Whiskey Sours that should have been called Whiskey Sweets. Bottom line: Never order a drink of any kind that uses a powdered mix.
Egsfor breakfast
One of your best days. Had me laughing out loud by the third line.
I tend to agree with Lewis and Nancy re the puzzle in general. Lots of great words.
To whomever questioned "layette" being a Tuesday word.
It definitely is. Maybe a wheel house thing. I never had children, but many friends and relatives did so "layette" came easily.
Eh, always! Though I had an auntie who said "hey". And it's "anty" not "awnty".
In Canada, "eh?" means "right?"
Croce freestyle 925 started at a record pace, but toughened up towards the bottom and wound up as easy-medium.
@Nancy, hmmmm. Maybe you never ordered coffee from an NYC street vendor? Good clip @whatsername…I think I saw the original movie but not the “Too” version. Yes, @Nancy…I like MY own drip coffee that is not Starbucks or other Seattle style made with “burnt beans.” (Bitter and acidic) I always say Starbucks is made for people who either have cast iron stomachs or like coffee that substitutes as a sweet pastry or dessert. I have enjoyed the coffee I’ve had in most European countries but it’s not generally bitter and acidic…just a little “stronger” than my everyday fare.
Haven't heard the term LAYETTE forever but it means a collection of matching baby clothes: maybe a couple of onesies, a top and bottoms, socks, a bonnet, etc.
@kitshef-Totally opposite on the Croce--took a while to get .the long acrosses on top and the rest went in in a hurry. Different strokes, etc. Overall pretty easy (for a Croce)
Ha, I started with that X bear, also.
Nothing better than someone who is definite, positive and wrong.
Though ambience is the preferred spelling and is the one listed in the NY Tmes style book, ambiance began its inroads in the mid 20th century and now gets used about a third of the time. (2.4-1 ratio of use per Garner's Modern English Usage, 5th ed.)
The clue might have been better had it included a "var," but the poser crowd seems to like ambiance, so those of us in the curmudgeon class may be doomed to seeing it more often..
Generally fun puzzle except for the double Natick for me with PEKOE and ASSAM (I’m not much of a tea person) crossing ALCOA (I’m not much of a metal manufacturing person either).
Also, whatever your opinion on the strength/structure of the grid, some people just not seeing the “cup” in the middle is somewhat boggling for me.
It saddens me greatly to share this with his many friends on the blog, but longtime Rexite Joe Dipinto evidently passed away on July 12th. I knew he'd been very sick; when I queried him by email on May 15th as to why he hadn't been posting of late, and asked if he was OK, he replied in considerable detail about a lot of very major health issues -- all coming together at the same time in a very worrisome way.
He had never mentioned anything about his health on the blog, but had been continuing to post comments through it all with his customary wit and flair. Knowing what I know now, he showed a lot of fortitude and a lot of grace.
His last email to me was on March 15th, but I think he did post one comment on the blog shortly thereafter that date.
Interestingly, no one in the past two months has mentioned Joe's fairly long absence from the blog or inquired about him -- which is very un-Rexblog-like since people usually inquire about people who are absent from the blog all the time. So I'm wondering if other people here knew he was sick and were respecting his privacy.
@Beezer did query me off-blog, the only person to do so, and today she sadly informed me that she had located his obituary online.
I'll reproduce part of what I wrote her back when I got her email:
"Joe and I bonded first over "The Green Paint Mystery" -- he being one of its best and funniest contributors. Later we bonded over Phrazle. He shared my overwhelming passion for the game, he was terrific at it, and he was always great fun to compare notes with.
I'll miss him a lot. Strangely, I feel as though I've lost a real-life friend. I really do."
I imagine that a great many of you will feel the same way.
Nice puzzlee for a Tuesday. As @Nancy says it has some fine grown up fill.
I’m a part-time tea drinker and I’’m a bit disappointed that my fave brew,, second flush darjeeling, wouldn’t fit in that crude vessel that is supposed to represent a tea cup. Was appalled at @Beezer’s account of her partner’s tea prep - 2 bags in a cup of boiled water for over 4 minutes. Yikes, that’s a killer brew. Sort of like when I was in England and I couldn’t drink the stuff I was served in the cheap hotels I frequented. I ordered coffee instead, which was equally bad. I think it was mostly instant powdered stuff. Back home I tried some of my wife’s Red Rose orange pekoe blend. NOTMYCUPOFTEA. Too coarse and bitter. No wonder she floods it with milk. Then I discovered darjeeling - light, aromatic. Steep it in 100 C water for no more than 45 seconds and drink it clear as it was meant to be drunk. Quite lovely stuff. I drink it out of a fine porcelain coffee cup that looks nothing like that abomination in the grid. Quite nice.
Never heard of PEACH tea. Wondered if it was actually some kind of tisane but reading the comments has straightened me out. I’ll pass, thanks.
Finished in normal downs only time and enjoyed it. Think ill go brew a cuppa.
Hello Christopher, and congratulations on your post as Jesters. We need to know all the really important people in the kingdom, and humor keeps the world together. . . we are going to need lots of it in the coming months (and years).
I had trouble with this one not because it was difficult, but because it told me so early on that the grid art informed us of the theme. Well, it failed to inform me, and I'm a huge tea drinker (at today's count, I have 11 different varieties of loose tea, and an entire three shelves of tea "equipment" etc. (lots of "etc."). I did get the tea theme with the cute little stack in the (handle bereft) "cup." So, in general, I agree that this cup of tea is only lukewarm - I was actually thinking "if this is supposed to be a cup of tea, it's only lukewarm" as I solved, so thanks for pointing that out early.
My biggest nit is the use of the, in my opinion very alternate spelling of ambience. English is (again in my hoity toity opinion about our language) going to the proverbial dogs in the 21st century. Even my very hip son-in-law who teaches it to high school juniors, and is fairly amenable to colloquial styles constantly complains that his students one year from graduation still do not understand the basics of grammar, and they complain mightily when marked down for glaring errors saying "nobody ever told us about that." Alas, just me being a cranky old lady (again).
I liked the tea cup, and even appreciated the reveal because when I saw the triple stack of teas that should never be drunk mixed together (sheesh, I'm full of strong opinions today!) I got the theme and even liked the very obvious NOT MY CUP OF TEA.
Now, my favorite part of the writeup today, Mr. Adams, is the picture of the TEE. That's possibly the best representation for baseball ever. True fans of any team (I'm talking die hard, lifelong fans here) understand that the season is long, life (hopefully) is also long, and baseball emulates life - sometimes things are good, and sometimes not so good, so we understand that heartbreak can feel good . . . at the ballpark. But, remember "there's no crying in baseball"
Happy Tuesday everybody and thanks Christopher.
PS I drink iceD tea, but learned in 1976 that apparently everyone in Oklahoma just drinks "tea" meaning (if asked by a served) "ice" tea. Even the servers will typically say "ice or hot?" Occasionally, you hear "cold tea" as well. If you are in Oklahoma and want it to come in a pot, you must say "hot tea." And if you are lucky, they have a decade old Lipton bag somewhere back in the kitchen. Rarely, and I'm talking hen's teeth here (until fairly recently) you will actually get a pot, with the exception of good coffee shops. Having been raised by the Language czarina of the universe to speak and write clearly and properly this irked me for about a decade (yep, really) but I got over it. Now I live in NorCal (Santa Rosa) where once again, folks drink iceD tea, and even say simply "tea" when they'd like "a cuppa," (one of my favorite Brittisms). OK, I'm really done now.
Sorry... the drinker of oversteeped rot gut tea was @Gill I's partner. tp each his own, I guess.
Thought cartoon pig was Porky since not familiar with Peppa(except when paired with Salt).Oh well
nice puzzle kelly! i love tea so this was my cup of tea so to speak.
Conrad
I would assume the rules for using ice or iced tea are for you and not the general public. Obviously, to expect such a technical distinction to survive in popular language more than a nanosecond is highly unrealistic.
I say ice tea (and I say the hell with it because I rarely drink it!).
Correction to my 4:52 post: Joe's last email to me was on May 15th.
Eh
Southside Johnny
I completely agree with you that there is nothing wrong with this theme. To be fair to Rex’s sub, he did say it was a matter of opinion.
I did say to myself, what the heck is peach tea!
@Nancy
Terrible news about Joe D.
I emailed him the b beginning of May to say we missed him and asked if he was OK. He responded that he was recovering from a fall and "was losing interest in crosswords."
Justin and others
Absolutely NOT one correct.answer
Ice tea is perfectly valid and so is iced tea (though to my ears the latter sounds pretentious)
We are talking spoken language here. Not grammar.
As a guess, if a researcher were to ask a group of randomly chosen people to talk about summer beverages and taped them, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them would say “ice” tea , often without realizing it, especially when the word is in the middle of a sentence. Iced tea in English is simply hard say.
“Correctness” has nothing to do with it.
Eater of sole
About ice/iced tea
Exactly
@Nancy 4:52. It saddens me too....A. lot. Just a few days ago I was thinking of Joe D. My husband and I were away for two weeks and I didn't do the puzzles nor did I read this blog. I even wondered before we left why he wasn't posting so much.
I will forever remember Joe Dipinto and "The Green Paint Mystery" the two of you concocted. It was one of the funnest times ever on the blog. He will definitely be missed. (Insert sad face).....
Beezee
Funny story about New York. Also a classic New York tourist story
Of course they have a lot of tourists in NYC but New York is famous for the attitude that we do it our way and it’s for outsiders to figure if out. (BTW I am not a New Yorker either). I do remember being yelled at by a counterman in Katz because I didn’t order fast enough!
Jberg
Since decaf became a popular option, I always used regular to mean not decaf. Can’t remember what happened before here in Rhode Island. But what I can’t get used to these days, YEAR ROUND, is remembering to say hot coffee because younger people tend to get it cold. Never happened when I was younger!
Anoa (as opposed to Alcoa) Bob
I was thinking of you when I saw the final s cross that doesn’t involve plurals. Mess & Oasis. Of course there are “ double pocs” elsewhere.
Not a huge fan of tea. Only drink it at night when decaf coffee ( which I don’t particularly like either) is not available. Rarely have it cold. Peach tea is apparently a peach growing region thing but it is in the South so close enough for crosswords. If made with fresh peaches I might actually like it!
Don’t agree with those who get upset that the three teas are or are not such and such. They assume that technical tea industry terms must be used and applied “correctly “ . Why? The CLUE not definition says VARIETY. , which is a standard English word, regardless of whether it is used technically. Peach , Pekoe and Assam are more than close enough for crosswords as answers to varieties of tea. Absolutely no problem with this one
I as I usually do liked the puzzle. Agree with Nancy.
Agree with the commenter who was happy not seeing a Mensa rant!
So sorry to hear about Joe Dipinto’s passing.
He responded to my asking how to link a video on this site. And every time I do, it’s because I searched his name in my Mail archives and copy and paste the code he supplied, as I did as recently as this morning. And will do again now.
Here’s to you, Joe Dipinto!
Just reentered the blog and saw Nancy’s sad post.Joe Dipinto had an amazing knowledge of popular music. Learned a lot about it reading his comments. And liked his links and occasional quizzes
Didn’t always agree with him but he was always interesting, with typical New Yorker style.
He was born in December, 1952.
RIP JoeD. Always counted on him to supply the perfect musical connection.
I'll miss him.
Joe was funny, not to be missed in the comments. I will miss him greatly. Thank you, Nancy, for letting us know about this...
Rest in peace, Joe. Wish I had gotten to know you better.
I'm sorry to hear about Joe Dipinto. I've enjoyed reading his comments since I started reading Rex. He'll be missed.
The perfect length for a TED talk.
lol. And same.
Hello, crossword peeps, long time lurker here! I loved, loved, loved this theme. The whole point of crosswords is to parse and examine language, to think about the discourse, how we communicate, and with what words. By providing clues in ASL I 1) learned how to sign key phrases, and 2) I really thought about ASL in a whole new way as I was fitting the sign clues into the grid. This theme rocked my world and I think it merits accolades. Thanks all!
Weak TEA as far as theme execution. Lots of potential with this idea. Sadly, it did not reach its full potential.
Snapple PEACH tea is a staple chez Space. Iced, though.
Cool puzzle design with that central cup and its contents. Well brewed. (Okay, REHEM's not ideal, but c'mon. Triple themer stack?)
Noticed: an LA RAM representing ARIES. Plus a KNICK for the NY crowd. Birdie.
Wordle bogey.
AWAKEN ASEVER
You TWO TIREd out and OVERSLEPT,
THAT’STHAT and THAT is NOT,
NOCONTEST TO the whole PRECEPT,
SOMELIKEIT WET and HOT.
--- SENOR STEVE SAKS
As someone pointed out, if you brew tea, let it cool, pour it into an ice cube tray, then put it in your freezer, you've made ice tea. Personally speaking, I prefer ice tea in my iced tea. It's much teaier that way.
You're welcome!
I Miss Joe D.
Very easy, but very fun Tuespuz. I find it more than a little strange that so many people on this blog don't know what a layette is. Im a bachelor and know what a layette is. Why? I have sisters, female cousins, nieces, and female friends. They've all been to baby showers, and have bought a layette for the mommy to be, at one time or another. I'm just laying it on the line.
And a final TEE to close it out, har.
Wordle par
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