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Relative difficulty: Hard (17:01)
THEME: STATE FLAG STARS — States are given reviews, with the number of stars corresponding to the number of stars that appear on their flag
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: NYRO (Laura in the Songwriters Hall of Fame) —
- ★ A big ditch in a big desert. Big deal. for ARIZONA
- RATING: ★ Sin, sun and sand … so? Not worth the gamble. for NEVADA
- RATING: ★★★ Graceland and the Great Smoky Mountains. I volunteer to visit again! for TENNESSEE
- RATING: ★★★★★★★★ Fresh salmon and spectacular scenery. Go north, young man! for ALASKA
- ★★★★★★★★★★★★★ Peaches, peanuts and pecan pie. You'll always be on my mind! for GEORGIA
Word of the Day: NYRO (Laura in the Songwriters Hall of Fame) —
Laura Nyro; born Laura Nigro; (October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and the 5th Dimension recording her songs. Wider recognition for her artistry was posthumous, while her contemporaries such as Elton John idolized her. She was praised for her emotive three-octave mezzo-soprano voice.
• • •
This puzzle was hard, mainly due to the vocabulary, which is not how I like for puzzles to be hard. (Though if I'm honest, I don't like hard puzzles at all.) I figured out the theme and got every theme entry (there were eight of them!) and then had to spend seven-ish minutes guessing letters. Glancing at the puzzle now, OLIO (as clued), ALL IS, DIO, SIDER (as clued), NYRO, ASTA, NADIRS, CIRRO, POME, CEL, IN A SUIT, NAE, DONNA (as clued), ALI G, ALTAIR, CDL, and IPSO were all entries that tripped me up. Okay yikes, I didn't realize it was that many until I wrote them all out :(
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| My favorite TV hosts, IN A SUIT |
Usually, a puzzle ends up with tough vocab like that because the theme constrains the grid in some way. In this puzzle, it was probably the fact that there were eight theme entries throughout, one of which was vertical. And there were some tough letters to work with, like the Z, V, an K. When I'm struggling through a constrained grid, I need the theme to really click with me so that I feel like the pain was worth it. Alas, this theme didn't.
I like the idea of cutesy fake reviews, but the execution on these felt off. The three star review seemed exactly as effusive as the eight and thirteen star reviews. Giving something Eight Stars Out Of Five isn't a known concept (vs "11/10" or "110%" which are both idiomatic to me), so I needed the clue to sell the above-and-beyond-ness. But they just ended up reading like regular good reviews... especially in this age of Instagram Influencers taking one bite out of a bowl of pasta and shrieking that it's the most life-changing show-stopping thing they've EVER had in their WHOLE LIVES!!!!!!! (The review for Georgia low-key felt like a 3.5 star review...)
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| I like to imagine that the Utz Girl is sisters with Betty Boop |
The constructor clearly took care to arrange the states symmetrically in the grid and order them from fewest stars to least. Unfortunately, this type of symmetry is kind of lost on me when you end up having an asymmetric revealer. At that point, I say toss the symmetry away! That would have allowed the puzzle to include perhaps the most famous State With A Star On Its Flag-- Texas!! The theme really felt incomplete without Texas, in my opinion. The star on its flag is its whole thing!!
What did you guys think? Did the theme click with you or no? Was the vocab easy for you or hard? What would your one-star review for Texas look like? (Or maybe a four-star review for Chicago?) (I KNOW that Chicago is not a state btw!!!)
Bullets:
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Bullets:
- [Catchphrase for Captain Underpants] for TRA LA LA — I adored these books when I was younger. My copies were in tatters. I still remember my prescribed weird name-- Pinky Wafflehead!
- [Old T-shirt, maybe] for DUST RAG — I filled this in with no problem, but when I was glancing over the grid to write this post, I kept on reading it as "Du Strag" and thinking it was someone's last name
- [Working on a board, perhaps] for IRONING — I had "planing" here at first. Cute clue!
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]
Yikes! The whole solve I was wondering: what the heck? And the revealers are scattered amongst: 8 across, 66 across, and 31 down? As Malaika said, the states are symmetrical, but everything else, yikes.
ReplyDeleteEven though I live in western Canada, I have been to all these states except Tennessee. But the flags?... not a clue.
And as far as Texas goes, I always get its flag confused with Chile (the country, not the dish). Seriously, if you think you can tell which is which, get someone to give you a blind test... there difference is subtle. (Heh heh: "subtle" has a SILENT T!)
I have fond memories of camping in the Sonoran desert... all the SAGUAROs. Hands up!
Maybe it's my US accent, but for me the silent letter in "subtle" is the B.
DeleteAh, I see you corrected it later! This new comment feature is just too tempting, I should read all the comments before I post any!
DeleteI protest - an AMP is not a speaker. Terrible clue.
DeleteAnon433 I agree. Had mic first knowing that it just couldn't be Amp. Well, it could.
DeleteSTATEFLAG would fit in 20 Down; 29A SIDER??????????? INASUIT and NOSENSE and SILENTT and VINED??? Yikes!
ReplyDeleteSomeone please explain SIDER clue…
DeleteSydneysider is a term for someone who lives in Sydney.
DeleteSydneysider is a resident of Sydney
DeleteI didn't know this, but Google Sydneysider. Apparently it is a "thing" in Sydney that discribes a type of person.
DeleteRYWhite
DeleteFWIW “sider” is a common suffix in Britain and in Australia for a resident of an area near a body of water. Didn’t know Sydneysider ( the body of water is Sydney Harbor or Harbour) did know Tynesider for resident of Newcastle and nearby after the river that goes through it.
Puzzled by the reaction to in a suit. A bland answer of a type very common here. It has appeared often over the years. Ditto no sense.
Rex calls ballet ending? a “letteral” clue”. These are VERY common in the Times. The? tips the solver off that it is a trick clue. Get a few letters from crosses then after experience solvers immediately think of silent T. Nothing out of the ordinary about it.
On the other hand many here hate answers like VINED. It is technically a word, but sounds awkward and rarely used outside of crosswords.
Oh I'm stupid... I meant SILENT B!
ReplyDeleteWho needs Texas when you’ve got Alaska?
ReplyDeleteWho needs Texas?
DeleteFirst learned of Laura Nyro through Blood, Sweat and Tears’ cover of When I Die. Still a great album. Took me a bit to remember the y in her name. Puzzle was a typical Wednesday for me. Liked learning about the flags w different numbers of stars.
ReplyDeleteIN A SUIT EATING A SANDWICH?
ReplyDeleteWearing GREEN PAINT, of course.
DeleteGreat write-up (and thank you for doing so early). I agree with lots of your comments -- this was tough for a Wednesday because of the fill (also got the theme fairly early). It was an original concept, but after last week's fiasco I would give all these states zero stars (couldn't resist).
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments as well.
Delete"FIASCO" is an understatement :(
DeleteHi Malaika! As someone born in the Lone Star State who long ago relocated to beautiful northern New England, I can think of a few one-star reviews for my native state but will restrain myself out of respect for my fellow Texans. I will say, though, that the most misleading city name in the U.S. is Grandview, Texas.
ReplyDeleteLaura Nyro is the very best singer-songwriter thst most people have never heard of. Her rich voice, haunting melodies, innovative chords, and moving lyrics wrapped together with soulful syncopated rhythms are unparalled. Treat yourself to a listen.
ReplyDeleteI first saw Laura Nyro perform in Ann Arbor MI in 1969 and have been listening to her since. Best female vocalist ever IMO.
DeleteI did listen to Laura Nyro when I was young. Unforgettable so that was gimme for. me.
DeleteOn the Cali side where it gets dark at 5. Steelers need more of you on print. Not sure about the Sydney Sider...
DeleteI started it, struggled for longer than I have pateince for, and found better ways to spend my morning.
ReplyDeleteGLADDER???? Has anyone ever used gladder in a sentence?
ReplyDeleteI'd be gladder if it weren't in word lists.
DeleteWell, you just did…
DeleteShe hears her own voice with a new delight,
DeleteAnd if the babe perchance should lisp the notes aright,
Then is she tenfold gladder than before.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
That looks like.... LITTLE ALEX HORNE!!
ReplyDeleteI was excited to see that Rex finally deemed a puzzle “hard”, and that his time was only slightly faster than my own... but that was not to be. :) But great write-up, Malaika!
ReplyDeleteI’m with you…my heart and spirit were raised for a few seconds before realizing it was the wonderful and more realistic Malaika. This was harder than expected especially after a few mondays and Tuesdays whose puzzles have been so easy for this newbie
DeleteI finished in 11 minutes, saw the time on this blog, and knew it wasn't Rex. I'm never beating OFL. Not in ten lifetimes.
DeleteI think the constructor can count himself lucky that Rex is off duty today...this was all kinds of rough.
ReplyDeleteI flinched at so many of the clues/answers today and came to the blog to see OFL rip it apart, but Malaika’s gentler approach will encourage me be a bit nicer (gladder?) today, maybe
DeleteCompletely agreed. So much of the fill felt like an OLIO of crosswordese self-parody... but perhaps today a novice solver will learn their first ASTA or NYRO, so I should just ZIP IT!
Deletegotta admit that while i love malaika's writeups i was a bit bummed to see today of all days rex was AFK - the whole time i was solving i was thinking "what the f*** is this?" and was looking forward to seeing what rex would have to say about this...thing lol. alas. fill was dusty and weird, themer clues were random and strange choices, and to top it all off the revealer reads as FLAGS STATE bc of its position...and for what? NO SENSE indeed.
Delete[did weirdly like DUST RAG tho, which i needed no crosses for. my dad and i both would often have to scramble and sneak to ensure our favorite tees didn't get relegated to the DUST RAG bag by mom while we weren't looking. i don't care if a shirt has yellow pits, stains, or if it's literally disintegrating, i can and will still wear it if i like it enough!]
-stephanie. :)
Thank you for this! Just struggled for way too long to complete this thing as you eloquently called it, and was similarly disappointed to not see Rex tear it apart. Your comment scratched that itch!
DeleteI backed into the theme -- figured out the "state" part but didn't think of "flags" until I got around to finishing the upper-right revealer. I guess that makes it the revealee? I had no idea that "Sydney" could have a five-letter suffix, much less what it was, but mercifully the crosses weren't hard, and now I know. Some other tough words too.
ReplyDeleteIt did also strike me that the numbers of stars didn't match the tone; that's often how I feel about actual reviews, so it may be part of the joke. I'm guessing the constructor considered using Texas but thought a star rating of a star would be annoying. Seems valid. I tend to prefer themers where the theme clues put up some resistance, but here I didn't mind some "whoosh" to make up for the unfamiliar words.
I solved it simply because it’s what I do every morning. I solve with my coffee. Absolutely the worst puzzle for me in the last several months. A lot of garbage fill as pointed out in the thoughtful analysis by OFL’s protege and the PPP made it all the worse. It is impossible for me to gauge the level of difficulty since some clues were Monday like and the others may have fit on a Friday. I knew the puzzle would be a slog after looking at one across. Then again, it may be because I have not solved on paper in a long while but I want to honor the strike. Thanks again for a great albeit it charitable in my humble opinion wrote up.
ReplyDeletePOME was a WOE, although PALER couldn't be anything else--the P was where I finished the puzzle. I agree with you, Malaika--it was tough, although my time was just barely over my average for Wednesday. And I wasn't thrilled with the fill. The theme fell flat to me as well, not just for the reviews themselves but because once I figured out they were states STATE FLAGS fell into place and then the only challenge was the non-theme answers, and there was a bunch of gunk, most of which you pointed out. Although to be fair I'm older than you and ASTA was a gimme (both because I used to do the Maleska puzzles and because I've seen the Thin Man movies a bunch :)). Meh.
ReplyDeleteLotsa lotsa crud here. EAT A SANDWICH AT A DESK IN A SUIT
ReplyDeleteI’m not a fan of “Look how smart I am” puzzles. So you stumbled upon stuff like ALTAIR, SAGUARO, SIDER, NYRO, CRUELLA, ASTA, TRALALA, ACACIAS and RAMSESI - all of which are just useless, esoteric junk. This one wasn’t for me - hard pass.
ReplyDeleteCruella de Ville is useless…..? Esoteric….? Hells Bells, Johnny, there *are* no “Look How Smart I’m Not” puzzles…..
DeleteLoved this and found it relatively easy.
ReplyDeleteI’m with you Stuart,found it pretty easy . Not sure where the big negatives are coming from.It’s a fine Wednesday
DeleteAs did I. Set my PR for Wednesday today.
Delete11:21 for me... NE corner was rough. SydneySIDER and NYRO were both total WOEs for me, so I was just hoping I remembered how to spell the cactus! Loved the theme, that made it a lot easier, cuz they were recognizable features of those states. Great, clever, inventive and somewhat different puzzle. Added bonus that the stars match the number of stars on each states flags, though I agree that the constructor found it hard to calibrate the language to the number of stars--but I'll take that, I think that would be tough to accomplish. Great Puzzle, perfect for a Wednesday, Todd! : )
ReplyDeleteAmong the fifty states, there is nothing special about Texas. Only Texans are deluded about this.
ReplyDeleteFigured I must have an error at NYRO and SIDER, but unlikely as it sounds, those are both actually correct.
ReplyDeleteLaura NYRO it seems wrote Wedding Bell Blues, which is in my top twenty(?) of most hated songs.
I would have loved to see a review for Arkansas (29 stars) or Kansas (34 stars).
But I agree with Malaika that the clues do a poor job of differentiating the number of stars.
Kitshef
DeleteAbout Laura Nyro
But she wrote-and sang - a lot of other songs I liked a lot
I was done in by NYRO and SIDER, but I thought the theme itself was cute and funny [for a change]. Despite adoring SB Cohen in general, and the ALI G show and movie specifically, that answer was mercifully filled in by crosses because I could not parse A??G
ReplyDeleteMedium overall. The hardest section was the NE with SAGUARO, SIDER and NYRO.
ReplyDeleteI liked the idea of interpreting stars two different ways but I’m usually not a big fan of puzzles where the theme stuff is all in the clues and there are no interesting theme answers.
The fill gets rough because the theme layout is super hard to work with. 9-letter answer in the middle + 7-letter answers on the edge forcing interlocked stacks of 7s in the NW and SE. Those are hard enough to put together in a themeless, let alone a themed puzzle.
Six years ago, Todd came up with one of my favorite grid designs of all times – one that feels to me like it’s floating – worth a look, IMO: here .
ReplyDeleteI love his creativity in coming up with today’s theme, equating state flag stars with review stars. That is one wacky brilliant leap.
Regarding the fill-in, getting the states from their clues seemed easy to me, but there were plenty of answers that took plenty of crosses as well, and it took a while for me to crack what the theme was – and when I finally did, it was a sweet moment of “Hah!” and “Oh how clever!”
Clues for the task of ironing often are punny (playing on words like “pressing” and “decrease”), but Todd, with [Working on a board, perhaps], came up with a terrific never-done-before one. Bravo on that!
I also liked the PuzzPair© of SAGUARO and a backward ALIG, because both can be found in the Sonoran Desert.
This puzzle drew me right in and when I was through I had that “This is why I love doing crosswords” feeling. Thank you so much for making this, Todd!
Hard Xword. BTW, the correct demonym for Genoa (22-Across) is "Genovese", especially considering that the answer (DIO) is an Italian word.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 7:45 AM
DeleteGenoese.
Depends on how you look at it.
From the English wording in the clue, it is clear that the 3 letter answer is an Italian word. So an all English clue is not contradictory. It is just a crosswordese way of asking what is the Italian word for god? Genevese is not after all English.
Gen Xer here. Can’t stop singing “Stoned Soul Picnic” Easy Wednesday
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle. I got into flags after watching Roman Mars' Ted Talk. Highly entertaining & informative.
ReplyDeleteVexillology Ted Talk
Flag of Pocatello, Idaho
Thanks for a fun puzzle, Todd.
BTW, I noticed that long-time constructor/editor Ian Livengood made recent mini puzzles, then researched a bit more and found out that he is now on the Times crossword editing staff. This was news to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't know when he joined the team, but what a quality addition. Glad to see you and welcome aboard, Ian!
The only thing I dislike more than a cross-referenced clue is a triple cross-referenced clue!
ReplyDeleteFed up with sports/pop/trivia questions in the new NYT crosswords. Today was slightly better.
ReplyDeleteI found it to have too much “crossword-ese” and too many words that are not really words. CIRRO? No thanks. Sydney SIDER? I have never heard that. Ok so maybe I’m just not worldly enough. IN A SUIT had Eat a sandwich vibes for me. I’m not really sure how many people yell out “RAH” anywhere ever. And ALL IS well sounds very weird, should be ALLS well. So I’m feeling very Rex-like with this one. Also, between OLIO, NAE, IANS, CEL and UTE, I was just groaning constantly. The only clue that made me smile was Kool MOE Dee. And the theme was… just ok. The ditch in the desert? The Grand Canyon? I guess it felt off to me that anyone would use that for a one star review. I feel very curmudgeonly today. But I always appreciate your positivity Malaika!
ReplyDeleteAn amp is not a speaker. It’s an amp.
ReplyDeleteMy very words!
DeleteAgreed. I knew immediately what they were going for but it felt bad putting in AMP.
DeleteI remember hearing a story about Dylan Thomas being asked what he thought of Wales, his home country which he had left years before. He said something like, "I can answer that in 2 words, and the second one is 'Wales.'" So it is with Texas. A 2-word review for its lone star.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I had a similar review for DrDET
Delete1-A seemed to require knowing the trick, especially when "Panama" wouldn't fit (along with not having a big desert). So that took me to 8-A which sent me skipping across the grid to 31-D, which was obviously STARS--very obviously, since there they were in the theme clues. That made TENNESSEE pretty obvious as well ("volunteer" in the clue was a nice touch), and it went pretty quickly after that. The only toughies were ALTAIR -- well-known star, but knowing its constellation? Not me-- and the non-Stooge MOE, with the ever-popular random-rapper-name clue.
ReplyDeleteI did think that the plural nature of "many TV hosts" called for SUITS, and I have no idea what a SydneySIDER is. MEDICAL practice, yes, but MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL is not really a phrase. And if RAMSES I is named for the sun god, isn't Ramses II named for that god as well?
It wasn't that hard, but I saw the old T-shirt and waited for crosses to decide between dishRAG and washRAG. Silly me.
The Utz girl. her family is growing.
ReplyDeletehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/1Wu41npFe-5M1wwBAt9mTViPL_xlNgFBt/view?usp=sharing
I realize that giving ARIZONA a one-star rating means saying something derogatory, but referring to the Grand Canyon as "a big ditch" just doesn't work for me. I mean, really.
ReplyDeleteHad the same objections as others to INASUIT and GLADDER, and TRALALA as clued was meaningless. Then we have an unknown rapper and the mysterious POME. Oh well.
Some of us veteran (older) solver will recognize old friend ASTA and hail the return of OLIO, which has been MIA for some time. Nice to see you again. Also we have a Roman numeral actually clued as a Roman numeral. Ah, the memories.
Interesting idea and I liked how the reviews went from yuck to rave as the number of stars increased, but some of the fill just dragged this one down. Pretty good overall, TG, and Thank Goodness for the crossword stalwarts. Thanks for a fair amount of fun.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteLiked the second part of the Theme clues included what the STATE is known as/about, if you see what I'm sayin'. Bold move having Themers in the top and bottom rows (Both answers in each!).
Wondering if Revealer just happened? Or was it planned, as there are two Themers there with the _T__S pattern.
Low blocker count in a densely Theme full puz, only 34. Clean fill considering Themers abounding.
Full confession, had to look up NYRO, as had NYRa/SAGUARa for my Almost There! message. Thought that VINED was wrong, (which I had first as IVIED).
Famous SB word ACACIA in today, and CIRRO (which is usually in as CIRRI).
Gonna throw a @Gary Uniclue in:
Dumb criminal on the lam? (Aren't most criminals dumb?) -
AT LARGE, NO SENSE.
Anyway, Happy Wednesday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
The number of stars in the clue represent the actual number of stars on each of the featured state flags.
ReplyDelete"That's so mean and so unfair, Todd," I'm thinking. "What did ARIZONA ever do to you?"
ReplyDeleteThen it occurred to me: "But what if it's flag has only one star?"
And there it was right next door. The revealer. FLAGS.
Hey, how many stars does the flag of GEORGIA have anyway? Too many to count -- at least for lazy ol' me.
This is a very cute idea for a puzzle and the cluing is quite playful. It's also very clean with a minimum of names. It's a puzzle I'd give to a newbie solver who I wanted to come back for more puzzles in the future. It's not hard and it gets even easier once you catch on. But it's breezy and a lot of fun. Nice job.
I also found this cute and easy for a Wednesday, so was mystified by the *hard* rating until I checked that it wasn't Rex.
DeleteCorrection: its flag
ReplyDeleteEvery day, something else to make me feel older. Today it's regarding Laura NYRO as obscure; she used to be all over the place. Anyway, she's not as old as ASTA.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were very budget conscious, and oleomargarine -- or "Oleo" was a lot cheaper than butter. But the Wisconsin dairy industry was strong, and they had got a law passed that margarine could not colored yellow before it was sold; you had to buy it white and mix a colored powder or liquid (packaged with the margarine) after you got it home. Menominee Michigan was not that far away, so anyone who went there would buy yellow margarine by the case. Anyway, it wasn't until I was about 35 that I realized that OLIO was not the same word.
I still think of it as oleo but although I rarely buy it, I have noticed it’s no longer cheap.
DeleteThe last time I ever used margarine was when my daughter (in grade school at the time) said to me, “Mom, did you know that if you put out a stick of margarine outside, wild animals won’t eat it”?
Delete@jberg, I remember my mom telling me that when margarine first came out, it was white because of some dairy law. That was here in western Canada so the law must have been pretty widespread! (spread... get it?)
DeleteWe had both oleo and butter in my house; we put stripes on the oleo with a fork. When we could tell the difference, we were allowed to use the butter. In California in the 40s, the oleo also came white with a packet for dye. Was it part of a war rationing thing?
DeleteLots of junk in this puzzle . GLADDER? ALTAIR? NUIT? I googled MOE. The state themers really filled in themselves once you got the gist. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ReplyDeleteAt 2am, I thought the puzzle was going feature movie names but quickly found that to be incorrect! Enjoyed identifying the names of states. Thought it was a fun puzzle even with the over abundance of dull, boring, unimaginable 3-4 letter junk non-words.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to think where I might've paused....I think it was trying to remember CRUELLA's name and how to spell TENNESSEE.
ReplyDeleteSTATE FLAGS...Easy enough, but poor ARIZONA. A big ditch in a big desert? At least ALASKA gets fresh salmon. And look.....GEORGIA wins with thirteen stars. I can't believe I stopped to count them......
I was GLADDER than yesterday only because I waited for ever trying to figure out L'ill KIDDO. Today it was trying to spell things correctly liked ALTAIR and CIRRO. Nice enough Wed.
Donde esta @Gary J? I hope he didn't get sick eating ******** Sopapillas.
I'd rather live in the DCAREA than in CRUELLA.
ReplyDeleteOur neighbors have a six year old who's definitely on the wrong track. That IMPLIES, cheats and steals already.
How about this clue for Texas? RATING:* You may even lose that if you keep electing Ted Cruz.
Nice concept. Hard to write a clue with enough enthusiasm for 13 stars. But a very enjoyable solve. Thanks, Todd Gross.
Your Texas clue is much better than mine. 😂
DeleteSeemed straightforward today although I'd never heard of ASTA, NYRO, POME or OLIO
ReplyDeleteMalaika, make it a point to see “The Thin Man” soon. You’ll learn who Asta is, plus it’ll be one of your favorite films, guaranteed!
ReplyDeleteI actually found this to give very little resistance. Once I got Arizona (which fell into place pretty easily with Amp, Idolize, and Zip It, all of the other theme answers were ridiculously easy. Too easy. Monday easy. Struggled a bit at the Sider/Nyro/Vined Junction, but none of the long entries had any teeth or zip, and Olio and Acacias will come pretty quickly to any regular spelling bee player. Absolutely nothing in the grid to surprise or delight.
ReplyDeleteThere’s a company called Subpar Parks that sells graphics of the national parks with one star reviews, and those are pretty funny. I feel like that concept would be more entertaining than this one.
The puzzle was an eye-opener for me: I had no idea how many STATE FLAGS were replete with STARS. Very cute idea for the theme. Otherwise - I thought it was very PPP-heavy, but this was the rare day when I knew them all, from ALTAIR to UTZ. Luck of the memory junk drawer + being almost as old as ASTA.
ReplyDeleteI had a mixed reaction to this one. At first annoyed with the STARS and how was I supposed to figure out what the heck that meant attitude. But then I quickly picked up on the clues referring to the STATES and it became much more fun. And I didn’t even realize until I came here, that they are in sequential order according to the number of stars.
ReplyDeleteSo I need to say thanks to Malaika for enlightening me on that point. I did not find the puzzle “hard,” But I do agree that the absence of Texas is a glaring omission. A puzzle built around about stars on state FLAGS without the most famous flag of all. And my clue for the one-star rating? I’ll borrow a direct quote from the Yellowstone TV series: “Everything there is trying to bite you, stick you, or sting you and it’s 110 in the shade.”
Me alegro de que la huelga haya terminado.
ReplyDeleteSince I wasn't doing the puzzle during the strike, and I couldn't read y'all rag tag posse of spoilers as I plan to venture back in time and complete the labor-action era offerings, I took up reading Nathaniel Hawthorne again, as I am won't to do every decade or so, and by way of warning, I recommend you prepare your unwitting souls for long sentences and an indulgent number of commas, but with your kind forbearance, I will make no more sense than usual. So probably still a good idea to skip me.
@Whatsername Thanks for checking in on me.
@egs How did I not know you attended St. John's in Santa Fe for four years. You have lived my dream.
I also missed if any of you had any opinions on the ME-generation ending democracy as their final ef-you to America and of their boomer-first antidisestablishmentarianism. Gen-Xers are twitching with our itchy trigger fingers on those plugs.
I think Georgia's over the top with the ⭐ mania in this puzzle. I'm also happy to see Texas on the cutting room floor. I drove the final moving van from Colorado to New Mexico yesterday through the [windswept expanses] of saguaro-free high desert, and as much as I've whined about this move, it's nice to know both states were two bright spots in an otherwise dismal electoral map.
I don't know what a Sydney-sider is, but I hope it's an apple cider served by a kangaroo.
I'm too tired to do the gunk report today and I have to go unload the truck, so I dunno, maybe later. Seemed about typical, but I have been snookered in the past.
Tee-Hee: PORNO. Nice to come back to the usual juvenalia.
Uniclues:
1 How to clean up a dismal future.
2 What American voters possess.
3 Whissle while you work.
4 Go gaga for Gaga.
5 What I hope you ladies are doing in the new land of the handsmaids.
1 PROPHET DUST RAG
2 NO SENSE AT LARGE (~)
3 RE-ROUTE SILENT T
4 IDOLIZE TRA LA LA
5 ALREADY IRONING
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: What happens with the ladies when I drop trou. MOON SWOON.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Bienvenido de nuevo! Nice to see you again.
DeleteMay I compliment you on your use of the Subjunctive. Muy bien hecho.
DeleteAs with the whole puzzle, I filled in 28A easily, but... So I looked it up, and some AI bot told me that "A Sydneysider is a person who lives in Sydney, Australia. The term is a compound noun that was first used in the 1860s, as evidenced by the writing of Henry Kingsley."
ReplyDeleteNice, easy Wednesday, but I threw a few penalty FLAGS. I'm thinking that many TV hosts clad IN A SUIT probably EAT A SANDWICH before the show. Yes, I know. That makes NO SENSE.
ReplyDeleteMedium. I caught the theme about half way through and it was more whooshy after that. I had no idea about STARS on FLAGS but the STATEs were pretty obvious.
ReplyDeleteI knew most of the stuff that tripped up @Malaika. A lot of it was familiar crosswordese. I knew SIDER from a recent (non NYT) puzzle.
Novel/clever idea and the theme clueing contributed to a fun solve, liked it.
This theme got involved upfront with the solve in a way that most themes don’t. Some themes seem best to ignore, until after the puzzle is solved, and you glance at it as an afterthought, and say Huh. I wonder if anyone has tried to define what a theme is, and what might make one theme better than another. As it is, themes seem free to be … what’s the word? … amorphous?
ReplyDeleteSurprise Taskmaster in the write-up improves the experience of this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteHey Malaika. Check out Nancy comics by Olivia James. Very old, but looks more like the Utz girl.
ReplyDeleteMy thought as well
DeleteUTAH rates high on M&A's U is A-ok state flags ratings, even tho it's only got one star on it.
ReplyDeleteDifferent and slightly weird puztheme. Liked. And 19 7-letter words [plus GLADDER], too boot.
staff weeject picks: UTE & UTZ. UTAH's state weejects.
honrable mention to AMP, whose clue was extra-weird.
fave thing: Longest answer [only non-themer one over 7-letters] = LONGEDFOR.
Thanx, Mr. Gross dude. And thanx to Malaika darlin for her gladder-than-@RP-probably-woulda-been blog write-up.
Masked & Anonym007Us [7 *s!]
our runtpuzs contain no spam:
**gruntz**
Oops… The above comment is mine. I keep forgettin that our all-new super-AI Google comment rules require m&e to do lotsa extra inconvenient stuff.
DeleteProgress.
M&A
Hi Malaika :)
ReplyDeleteThis didn't turn out to be as tough as I thought it was going to be. Didn't know SIDER, ALIG & thought "GLADDER" ??? What is that? Hope not to see it again.
A fun & different Wednesday. Thank you, Todd :)
Im glad it wasn’t just me! I have to take issue with a couple answers, too. An AMP is not a speaker. It’s the power unit that drives the speaker. I imagine that’s pretty common knowledge. And the answer NOSENSE tripped me up because NONSENSE is the common word for gobbledegook.
ReplyDeleteLate to the game today but I wanted to say I liked the puzzle and didn’t necessarily find it full of gunk or crosswordese.
ReplyDeleteI come to defend INASUIT. Hypothesis: First. When is the last time you saw a man INASUIT? A wedding, perhaps? My husband had a “day trip” to the DCAREA (actually in “the District”) for a meeting. He told me that he saw no one in the airport INASUIT and he was the only person on the plane INASUIT. I humbly submit, therefore, that in this…the year 2024…being INASUIT is quite rare these days and I proclaim it as NOT in the realm of EATingASANDWICH. 😉
Easy
ReplyDeleteA one and a half Budweiser puzzle
I was well into the theme of this puzzle when I finally reached 51A and took an embarrassingly long time to see ALASKA. I'm blaming my CIRRi crossing imSURE. For a while, I thought the theme had been hijacked and the answer would be tacoma because of the m I had put in. Should have rethought that Go north part of the clue.
ReplyDeleteoTo before UTE. his before SHE. Otherwise, this solved pretty smoothly. Thanks, Todd Gross.
UTZ - I learned this from crosswords because those snacks haven't wandered this far west...yet. But when I was last on the East coast, I stopped in a convenience store and was excited to see the famed brand in the flesh, as it were, and then was fascinated by the crazy flavors available.
ReplyDeleteI learned of Utz from “Mad Men” episodes. Never saw them in California and I don’t remember them from my days in the Midwest either.
DeleteGlad it wasn't power outage that kept @GaryJ out; also glad strike over, even if no contract. And glad to see Nancy's correction (no doubt needed because of stupid Autocorrect) - Nancy, woman after my own heart, did you also once teach English?
ReplyDeleteAs to my own efforts today, even GLADDER to have third QB in a week, and the puzzle didn't require a single look-up-to-check (unusual for me), though one or two write-overs.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amusingplanet.com/2020/03/terrible-national-pak-reviews.html
I first heard of this kind of humor when I got a postcard from Mammoth Cave, “way too dark and damp in there”.
Reminds me of the postcard packs Rex sends out with thank you notes.
I very much enjoyed this puzzle.
Weird. I often struggle later on, on Friday/Saturday fills…but this vocab didn’t seem any more difficult than any other Wednesday. But the star theme eluded me, even as I completed all the state names . Wouldn’t you know it…“Flags” was my very last fill. The number of stars on state flags (save Texas) is evidently just another one of my cultural blind spots. Guess I just don’t care to track that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a native English speaker, and I'm not big on pop culture at all, so I *always* struggle with a lot more words than any of the bloggers here. Today I was surprised to see that out of all of the entries that gave trouble to Malaika I only fought with these: SIDER (as clued), NYRO, NAE, DONNA (as clued), ALI G and CDL. A huge fluke, so huge for me I've felt like bragging about it here.
ReplyDelete@egs... Thanx for the laughs. I always look for your post.
ReplyDeleteAfraid I was very slow on the first line this am. Had to go back to it to get it Finally pronounced it cruel LA and laughed (partly at myself for being slow)
Enjoyed the theme and figuring out the states. 51A came immediately with the first two words but still wasn't realizing that the stars related to stars on the state flag. Wasn't counting those tiny little things or I might have caught on with Alaska.
"Eight stars of gold on a field of blue / Alaska's flag may it mean to you..." is a line in our state song.
Why the gripes about "saguaro" ? Good word and well known cactus.
Understand the gripes re "amp". I doubted amps were speakers, but not techie enough to know for sure.
Utz? Never heard of, guess I'll google and see if they are anything I'd ever snack on
Enjoyed the puzzle, even if it was a bit challenging.
ReplyDeleteNot enjoying all the hits on Texas. I'm definitely not aligned with the statewide politics but neither are the majority of residents of the large cities. Culturally, there's a lot to love if we can make it through the next 4 years.
We'll make it through with flying colors, and saving money to boot
DeleteHello OLIO my old friend, you've come to help my solve again.
ReplyDeleteNot cottoning to this theme. Seems a tad arbitrary and disjointed, to wit, Georgia gets a rating that is 13 times higher than Arizona?
I grew up in TENNESSEE and now live in TexMex Land in the deep south Lone STAR STATE where there are lots of ACACIAS, so there is that. Even used to live on ACACIA Lake Drive and we had a huge ACACIA tree in our yard.
For all y'all taking drive-by shots at Texas, here's some more ammo: Some general in some war, maybe the Mexican-American War, said that if he owned Hell and Texas, he'd rent out Texas and live in Hell!
I’m surprised at how many people found this a hard puzzle. I didn’t think so, seemed like a normal Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Texas is a s hocking omission for this theme. Additionally, channeling Rex here, this particular set feels rather arbitrary. My brief perusal suggests at least 18 state flags contain stars (4 more if we include the sun as a star)…why these five in particular? And I completely agree on the fill; I needed every cross more times than I’d like to admit.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely shameful that Laura Nyro and her brilliant work are being slowly forgotten. Everyone do yourselves a favor and Spotify ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION.
ReplyDelete22A: "When to see la lune in Lyon." NUIT?? Just like anywhere else on Earth, the moon in Lyon is up just as much during the day as the night. If the clue was about l'etoile, the answer would be correct, but not as written.
ReplyDelete