.png)
Gala throwaway / THU 11-21-24 / San Francisco organization supporting women in the arts / Classic sitcom streaming on Britbox, familiarly / On ice longer than normal, say? / Eponymous youth sports organization, the largest of its kind in the U.S. / Khan, former Pakistani prime minister / Informal green lights / N.B.A. player-turned-sports-analyst Rose / grazing (winter farm feeding strategy) / U.S. city named for a geological formation / Like some barrel-aged spirits
Thursday, November 21, 2024
Constructor: Katie Hoody
Relative difficulty: Medium (gimmick was simple, but overall cluing was tough)
Theme answers:
Wow. A puzzle for people who hate reading. And cats. I am ... neither of those people. The entire puzzle seems to exist so that the revealer can sneer at the idea of reading long books, which is to say, sneer at the idea of reading in general. You know what's TOO LONG and I wish I DIDN'T READ? That revealer. That "review" isn't "cheeky," it's idiotic. Nobody writes it out like that. It's TL;DR, and only TL;DR. Plus, are these books really so "long"? They don't strike me as iconically long. Not like War and Peace or Infinite Jest or, if you really want a doorstop, Clarissa (~950,000 words!). DAVID COPPERFIELD is just ... a novel by Dickens. I read it earlier this year. It's normal Dickens novel length—roughly the same length as [deep breath] Martin Chuzzlewit, Nicholas Nickleby, Bleak House, Little Dorritt, Dombey and Son, and Our Mutual Friend (all 340,000+ words). And while it's true that I have not read LES MISERABLES or ATLAS SHRUGGED, it ain't beause they're "TOO LONG," for god's sake. I don't demand Reverence of Literature from my crosswords, but this kind of shallow sneering nonsense can ... let's be unprofane and say "take a hike." Oh, is the book long? Is reading hard? Are you tired? Do you want a lollipop? Grow up. You don't have to read books if you don't want to, but your inability or unwillingness to read anything longer than a Tweet is a You problem. Don't blame the books. The books are exactly the length they're supposed to be. Also, if you're shouting "BAD KITTY!" at your actual kitten for any reason, let alone for the mere fact of "spilling milk," I'm taking your kitten away from you, asshole. Why are you giving the kitten milk, anyway? You clearly shouldn't own a cat. Give me the cat. You go manage your anger. Kitty and I are gonna curl up with a long book.
- DAVID COPPERFIELD (18A: 1850: 350,000+ words)
- LES MISERABLES (24A: 1862: 530,000+ words)
- ATLAS SHRUGGED (46A: 1957: 550,000+ words)
The Thénardiers, commonly known as Monsieur Thénardier (/təˈnɑːrdi.eɪ/; French pronunciation: [tenaʁdje]) and Madame Thénardier, are fictional characters, and the secondary antagonists in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables and in many adaptations of the novel into other media.They are unscrupulous working-class people who blame society for their sufferings. Early in the novel, they own an inn and cheat their customers. After they lose the inn in bankruptcy, they change their name to Jondrette and live by begging and petty thievery. They serve, alongside Javert, as one of the two arch-nemeses of the story's protagonist, Jean Valjean. While Javert represents the justice system that would punish Valjean, the Thénardiers represent the lawless subculture of society that would exploit him. The novel portrays them as shameless and abusive figures; some adaptations transform them into buffoonish characters, though sometimes still criminals, to provide comic relief from the generally more serious tone of the story. (wikipedia)
• • •
This puzzle is 16 wide, which may be one of the reasons it felt slow despite having a transparently easy theme. But mostly it felt slow because the cluing kept being paralyzingly vague. Occasionally there were names I just didn't know (like IMRAN) or terms I didn't know (BALE grazing?), but it was the vagueness that really slowed me down. Stuff like 37A: Tool for PATSY or 34D: Invoice unit for ITEM or 14D: Bolsters for AIDS (I had ADDS and PADS before AIDS). That PATSY / ITEM / JOISTS sections was sluggish for me, which made MISS SCARLET sluggish as well (again, a very vague clue—in "Clue" alone there are six "characters" (not counting "Mr. Boddy"), and anyway "classic whodunit" suggests book, not board game). Thank god for OAKY, which got me traction in that section, finally (33D: Like some barrel-aged spirits). I had some difficulty elsewhere as well. Getting from ["Stop with that!"] to "C'MON!" wasn't easy, especially considering that "M" was in IMRAN (a total mystery name) (42D: ___ Khan, former Pakistani prime minister). Had some trouble parsing "I MESSED UP" (35D: "That's on me"), in part because I kept wondering if the speaker was maybe offering to pay for something rather than owning up to a mistake. There's a "San Francisco organization supporting women in the arts"? Is anyone outside S.F. supposed to know this? Bizarre. And when did COALS become an acceptable plural? The gag Christmas gift is COAL. Uncountable noun. No "S." You might refer to "lumps of coal," but never COALS. Never COALS. Well, maybe if you’re getting raked over the COALS. I think the COALS have to be hot to be plural. As clued, COALS is about as absurd a plural as DADAS, which ... Oh look, they cross. Fun.
[PATSY]
- 53D: Informal green lights (AOKS) — my apologies to AOKS for leaving it out of the "absolutely terrible plurals" discussion, above
- 35A: On ice longer than normal, say? (IN OT) — So ... this clue is so weird. In sports slang, if a game is "on ice," that means it's sewn up, won, over. But if the game is IN OT (in overtime), then obviously that's not the meaning that this clue is after. If the game in question is a championship game, perhaps there is champagne "on ice" back in the locker room waiting for the outcome ... but the champagne itself wouldn't be IN OT, so that makes no sense either. The only thing that makes sense is that the game in question is a hockey game, and so the players are literally "on ice" longer than they "normally" would be (in a regulation-length game). Or else it's something to do with the Old Testament and I am way, way off base.
- 43A: Students run for it (GYM CLASS) — oof, the syntax here. Students run in GYM CLASS, yes. "For" ... you need a lawyer to make "for" OK. I thought this was some kind of CLASS office, like CLASS president or CLASS treasurer. That's probably the misunderstanding the clue was meant to provoke.
- 8D: Eponymous youth sports organization, the largest of its kind in the U.S. (POP WARNER)— formally known as "POP WARNER Little Scholars"—like Little League, but for (American) football.
- 9D: Location within an office building: Abbr. (STE) — short for "suite"
- 47D: Not a straight shot (SLICE) — this is golf. A non-straight shot is either a "hook" or a SLICE
- 41D: N.B.A. player-turned-sports-analyst Rose (JALEN) — I was at Michigan when the Fab Five became famous, so JALEN was a gimme for me, but it seems like the kind of sports name that might flummox the (sizable) non-sportsy contingent of solvers.
- 52D: Gala throwaway (CORE) — this one got me. Following [Theater throwaway] (STUB), it really got me. I assumed "Gala" was a party, and while you might throw your ticket STUB away after leaving the theater, I could not imagine what you might throw away after leaving a gala. I had COR- and still no idea because the cross was also baffling me. I was staring at B-STS for 62A: Records and ... nothing. BUSTS? Criminal "records" are made up of BUSTS? LOL, no. "Records" here are "top performances or most remarkable events," i.e. BESTS. And the [Gala throwaway] is a CORE. Because "Gala" is a variety of apple. Clearly I need coffee. So I'll stop here.
P.S: the tenth annual edition of the NYT's Puzzle Mania comes out on December 1. If you're not a dead-tree newspaper subscriber, you can now pre-order a copy of the puzzle extravaganza for yourself (for $7 + shipping). This is the holiday supplement that has tons of different puzzles in it, including (in previous years) a truly giant crossword puzzle, which you have to put on a large table or the floor to solve. Anyway, it's an event. And now you know how to get it if you want it.
Save And Share :
23 comments:
What about "coalS to Newcastle?
Good point, @Anon5:55 AM, plus getting raked over the COALS (64A).
Pretty easy for a Thursday, devoid of the rebus trickiness I dislike, but also pretty straightforward.
Overwrites:
13D: BArn grazing before BALE
52D: tOtE before CORE (thinking that people attending a gala get swag in tote bags, which are then discarded)
No WOEs, although I couldn't tell you what part of my brain had JALEN Rose (41D) and IMRAN Khan (42D) sequestered.
Never heard of it
Theme was OK (definitely did not take it as an insult to reading, and the revealer is fine; it’s what tl;dr stands for), but what I loved about this one was the clever clues. I counted six worthy of consideration by @Lewis:
- “Stop with that!” (BRAKE)
- “Cry over spilled milk” (BAD KITTY) - did not take umbrage over this, though I liked Rex’s riff
- “Gala throwaway” (CORE) - nice misdirect after “theater throwaway “ - I thought CORk at first.
- “Joey of children’s lit” (ROO)
- “On ice longer than normal, say” (IN OT) - definitely a hockey game
- “Students run for it” (GYM CLASS) - no objection to the “for”
And some nice long answers with I’M OPEN, QUIT STARING, I MESSED UP.
Never heard of JALEN Rose. I thought IMRAN Khan was IMRAh Khan, but the crosses fixed it. I agree with @Rex about the theme generally. And if felt like this week's Thursday puzzle ran on Wednesday and vice versa. Ah well.
I think OFL’s review was too kind. Two of my favorite books from high school which were the perfect length. I just reread Atlas Shrugged and liked it so much more as a retiree than as a student. I know many Rand haters out there but i think it is worth a read.
The NYT puzzle just keeps getting worse. Endless names. Endless obscure trivia. ABFAB?! It's a foreign sitcom from 1992. Why is it sitting atop my 2024 American crossword puzzle?
My eyes usually glaze over when Rex winds up and delivers a rant, and i invariably waste no time skipping down to the meatier stuff. Not this time. This time l looked forward ti it. This time I wanted it. This time I demanded it. This time I found myself cheering him on, wanting him to go even deeper and harder in his withering take-down of this truly offensive theme.
And adding a small point... The are lots of reason not to read "Altas Shrugged" That it is "too long" doesn't even crack the top ten reasons.
Hated this mean-spirited puzzle but loved Rex’s critique re everything, esp the insult to Dickens & the mistreatment of cats. Kitties cannot be bad. They are not morally responsible beings, they simply act out of their inherent feline nature, & are beautiful & delightful.
Re "Puzzle Mania" for those who don't have print subscription...
In the US you will pay $7.00 for the Puzzle Mania insert plus almost $6.00 for the cheapest shipping, for a total of about $13.00. It ships beginning December 9.
Or...you can pick up the December 1 Sunday print edition, which includes the Puzzle Mania, at a vendor near you (if available) for $12. That is, for a dollar less, you get the full print edition, the Puzzle Mania insert, and the insert almost two weeks earlier than you would by ordering it online.
Personally, it’s hard to get enthusiastic at the new world order over at the Times. The sample size is getting large enough that it can no longer be considered a statistical blip. Today we shoot right out of the gate with ABFAB, ABDUL and BRAVA - which is really too bad, as the grid had promise (I’m much more enamored with the theme/reveal than OFL, so that part was actually kind of fun).
AQABI and DUBAI are probably fine for a Thursday, but do we really need to stack them?
I’m sure I’m one of many who couldn’t care less that ARIEL “saved” ERIC. Unfortunately I have to deal with both of them crossing each other. While not as egregious as last weekend, this trend continues to be disturbing (and I didn’t even mention IMRAN crossing ELIAS).
Not easy to get started, it took OAKY X EKED which begat, eventually, GYMCLASS, followed the downs, and soon enough IMESSEDUP and POPWARNER, which took forever to think of, provided solid traction down the middle and the rest went relatively quickly. The full version of TLDR appeared thanks to lots of experience with Acrostics, and I find it ironic that it's never written out, TLDW.
Face palm on JALEN, as I was thinking of Rose as a first name, duh. STOPSTARING slowed down the NE as did the clue for VETTES. No idea about ITPS, BRAVA, or IMRAN but fair crosses.
I do agree with the gist of OFL's rant. OTOH I enjoyed solving this one, which had no Thursday tricksiness but required some cogitation and had some satisfying answers, so OK by me, KH. I Knew Half the trivia and thanks for all the fun.
Every time someone says "Too Long Didn't Read" I think of that great scene in Amadeus where the Emperor goes on about how there are "too many notes" in Mozart's music. My dear Rex, didn't you know there are only so many words a person can be expected to look at?
A fun puzzle with no rebuses and just enough resistance for a Thursday. I sympathize with Rex but have to admit that, as much as I enjoyed the first half of David Copperfield both times I attempted it, I never made it to the end.
COALS sounds just fine to me, and I wonder if it is a British thing? As the first comment points out, "carrying coals to Newcastle" is a common phrase - but maybe just in the UK?
JALEN Rose is probably better known to younger people as a sports analyst than as a player - a fixture on ESPN for over a decade.
I wonder what "kind" of thing Pop Warner is that it is the largest among. It's definitely not bigger than Little League, so maybe it's one of those things where you keep putting more qualifiers until you can claim superiority: "Vermont is the largest state east of the Mississippi that doesn't have an ocean border".
Hi. Just wanted to say “IMRAN” was my way to really crack open this puzzle. Who doesn’t know that Imran Khan was one of the greatest all-rounders to play the game! Cricket, that is.
I’m in Melbourne, Australia so I really liked finding a cricket clue as a small compensation for all the rubbish baseball/basketball clues endemic to the NYT crossword. And the thousands of rubbish clues for ‘Oreo’ whatever on earth that is.🤪
Every American should know Imran Khan. If you don’t you’re not paying attention to a very dangerous part of the world.
In hockey you can be on ice too long, literally, in OT
“On ice” = hockey
In complete agreement with Rex about the theme. Length is irrelevant in these books. I started Les Miserables and finished it, regardless of its length. I started Atlas Shrugged and quit partway through because it is garbage.
I found this to be easy for a Thursday. I didn't have problems with the clues; only the proper names. POP WARNER? What on earth is that? For being "the largest of its kind" it's apparently not big enough to be brought to my attention. While I agree about the regionality of BRAVA, it's no worse than all the NY-specific trivia we are constantly subjected to.
Finally, I say "BAD KITTY" nearly every day to a very deserving feline. I have two cats: one is a wonderful little angel. The other is like Atlas Shrugged -- Garbage.
Lots of unknown names (to me). And tricky clues, which I’ll never complain about. Yeah, the idea of the theme was somewhat off-putting. Couldn’t figure out how Gone with the Wind could be a whodunit.
PS @Roo. Yeah, I saw it. Nothing new under the sun.
Two moments I loved while solving:
• Filling in ACOUSTIC and suddenly hearing the lush strums and runs of acoustic guitars in my head as if they were actually playing near me.
• BAD KITTY warmed my heart, as it thrust scenes of my cat Wiley to mind, who, when hungry or ready to rest, gets adorably naughty, knocking things off tables, scratching furniture, or standing over the keyboard when I’m at the computer.
These two things alone won me over, turned my thumbs up on this puzzle. Raising them higher was freshness in the answers, with five debuts, including the conversational I MESSED UP and QUIT STARING. In addition, there were six answers that have appeared in the Times puzzle only once, and four that have appeared but twice. Thus, filling this in was not a same-old, same-old experience.
I also liked seeing ITEM and ITEN touching corners, and my brain liked the workout it got in the clue cracking.
Thus, a most pleasing outing. That’s twice in your two Times puzzles, Katie, and makes me eager for more. Thank you!
Post a Comment