.png)
Hungarian violinist Leopold / WED 12-25-24 / Unidentified person, in slang / Prepare, as a watermelon / What some fear A.I. might become / "___ anges dans nos campagnes" (French carol)
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Constructor: Jacob McDermott
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- LIGHTS (2D: What might be strung from the item hidden in this puzzle)
- PRESENT (just one?) (11D: What might be set under the item hidden in this puzzle)
- GARLAND (just one?) (33D: What might be draped form the item hidden in this puzzle)
- TINSEL (43D: What might be hung from the item hidden in this puzzle)
Leopold von Auer (Hungarian: Auer LipĆ³t; June 7, 1845 – July 15, 1930) was a Hungarian violinist, academic, conductor, composer, and instructor. Many of his students went on to become prominent concert performers and teachers. [...] Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was especially taken with Auer's playing. Reviewing an 1874 appearance in Moscow, Tchaikovsky praised Auer's "great expressivity, the thoughtful finesse and poetry of the interpretation." [...] Auer is remembered as one of the most important pedagogues of the violin, and was one of the most sought-after teachers for gifted students. "Auer's position in the history of violin playing is based on his teaching." Many notable virtuoso violinists were among his students, including Mischa Elman, Konstanty Gorski, Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Toscha Seidel, Efrem Zimbalist, Georges Boulanger, Lyubov Streicher, Benno Rabinof, Kathleen Parlow, Julia Klumpke, Thelma Given, Sylvia Lent, Kemp Stillings, Oscar Shumsky, and Margarita Mandelstamm. Among these were "some of the greatest violinists" of the twentieth century. (wikipedia)
• • •
Also, the tree is not "hidden," as the theme answers claim (also, weird to call a whole-ass Christmas tree an "item," but let's not dwell on that). That "tree" is not hidden. It's not there at all. "Hidden" implies that it is there to be found, in some clear, recognizable fashion. You have to add so much detail in post-production to make those "O"s legible as a "tree" that calling what's actually in the grid a "tree" seems dishonest. And all the "bonus" Christmas answers, the Christmas-oriented clues on regular fill, which yesterday seemed charming, now feel like ... well, it feels like the puzzle is trying to go back to the well, but it's run dry. Like it's trying to capture a magic that was there yesterday, but it's just not there today. It's like when Bill Murray has that perfect day with Andie McDowell in Groundhog Day, and then the next day (which is the same day) he tries to make it happen again, and he can't. He keeps trying to force it, and it keeps going sideways. This puzzle went sideways.
There's something sad about a single PRESENT sitting under the (alleged) tree, not to mention just a single GARLAND draped across its (alleged) branches. And GARLAND? What is that? That is not a word I associate with Christmas tree decoration at all. Real "one of these things is not like the other" VIBE to GARLAND. The only GARLAND I associate with Christmas is...
OK, I said I wouldn't dwell, so ... on with the not dwelling!
Explainers and further comments:
Sassy the Tuxie likes to help with the Christmas present wrapping by doing the one thing cats do better than all other animals: sit on any random thing just because it is there. Here she is keeping the bag of bows and tissue paper from flying away:
This is Nelly. She belongs to Ellen. "Ellen" is suspiciously close to "NELLY" spelled backward. Is this ... is this your cat, Ellen, or are you a shapeshifter? Either way, nice-looking cat. This cat could sell you a miniature Christmas tree. "Perhaps I can interest you in this model?" Absolutely, yes, you've convinced me, Nelly, I'll take four.
Explainers and further comments:
- 53A: Hungarian violinist Leopold (AUER) — never saw this, and thank god, because oof, the undiluted old-school crosswordese of it all, yeesh. This and HASA were the presents under the Christmas tree that absolutely nobody asked for.
- 38D: Handle things? (AT SIGNS) — your “handle” (or name) on some social media platforms has a “@“ at the front of it.
- 26A: What some fear A.I. might become (AWARE) — ??? I assume A.I. is already "AWARE," in some general sense of the term. "AWARE" doesn't really get what is awful about A.I.—currently awful, not "in the future" awful. And as for what people might "fear": SENTIENT ... SELF-AWARE ... those terms get at the specific "fear" way better than mere "AWARE" does.
- 30A: Instruction from a taxi driver ("GET IN!") — OK it's been a while since I took a cab in NYC but I don't remember receiving this instruction, ever. "GET IN!" "Oh, is that what you do with this yellow contraption? I had no idea, thanks for the 'instruction.'" I guess if you're outside the cab and asking the cabbie if they can take you someplace, they might say this.
- 62A: Pairs of jolly bells? (ELS) — a “letteral” clue; the answer is “L”s, i.e. the “pairs” of letters found in the words “jolly” and “bells”
- 4D: Prepare, as a watermelon (CUT OPEN) — overall this puzzle was astonishingly easy (easier than even yesterday's, for me), but this was the one answer that took some crosses to get. I wanted something having to do with seeds ... deseeding? ... or slicing? Shrug. Hard for my brain to get from "watermelon" to CUT OPEN. I guess a cadaver clue wouldn't have been too "Christmasy."
- 45A: Unidentified person, in slang (RANDO) — I love this term. I'm always happy to see it. I don't quite understand why it makes me happy, but it does. Hope you're not seated next to some RANDO at Christmas dinner tonight. "Hi, I'm Kurt, Julia's boyfriend!" "Oh, hi ... who's Julia?" Actually, in this scenario, maybe you're the RANDO.
And now, here are some more Holiday Pet Pics to go with your (actual, honest-to-god) Holiday:
Charlie made you Christmas dog treats! What's that you say? You don't like dog treats? Oh, that's ruff, guess Charlie will have to eat them all, Oh Well!
.jpeg) |
| [Thanks, Dawn] |
Sassy the Tuxie likes to help with the Christmas present wrapping by doing the one thing cats do better than all other animals: sit on any random thing just because it is there. Here she is keeping the bag of bows and tissue paper from flying away:
.jpg) |
| [Thanks, Connie] |
This is Nelly. She belongs to Ellen. "Ellen" is suspiciously close to "NELLY" spelled backward. Is this ... is this your cat, Ellen, or are you a shapeshifter? Either way, nice-looking cat. This cat could sell you a miniature Christmas tree. "Perhaps I can interest you in this model?" Absolutely, yes, you've convinced me, Nelly, I'll take four.
.jpg) |
| [Thanks, Ellen] |
Moki needs to have a serious talk with you. It's about treats. Specifically: Where are they? And don't say "in your stocking" because that does not check out. Moki's a dog, and dogs can smell these things. Don't lie to Moki. Just go get the treats ... yes, now ... and then you can go back to your little picture-taking or whatever it is that you're doing here.
.jpg) |
| [Thanks, Bryan] |
"The first Noel / The kittens did scream..." Sing it, Mandy!
.jpeg) |
| [Thanks, Emily] |
Franky! Look at this sweet baby. Get that Santa, Franky! Look at his long beard and smug face. His impudence can not be tolerated! Finish him!
jpg.jpg) |
| [Thanks, Marietta] |
Franky looks like my Alfie, seen here surprised to find himself on my desk. Me: "Buddy, don't look at me, I did not put you there. I'm just as surprised as you are."
See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
Save And Share :
70 comments:
Never saw the "BALLS". Stay healthy puzzle fiends
I must have liked this better than Rex. A nice touch that the only 9 Os are all connected to the tree. Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas, @Rex and everyone! If I had solved on paper I never would have figured out to connect the Os--as @Rex said, a big triangle hardly a tree makes. But (O) CHRISTMAS TREE was unhidden in the middle, so there you go.
Anyone know what “ATSIGNS” means as an answer to “Handle things?”
A nice touch was pointed out by a commenter on WordPlay: The O's of the Christmas tree are the only O's in the grid.
“@ signs” can be found in your social media name (or “handle”)
It’s not really a “nice touch”—the instructions are nonsensical otherwise
I thought this one had more potential than it ultimately achieved. I got the holiday / Christmas tree theme early on, but just too much sloppy cluing and editing. Having SAGURA, ORA and MARA sitting in a PPP traffic jam there in the center sticks out like a sore thumb. Some really unnecessarily terrible (and gratuitous) cluing didn’t help (like the one for OVEN for example - I know it is a holiday theme but the editor needs to recognize when the clue is trying too hard).
Garland and tinsel (or icicles, as we sometimes called them) have largely gone out of fashion in the tree decorating world, in my experience, especially for tinsel. Last time I saw tinsel on a tree was sometime in the early to mid 1970s. Removing it after the holidays was a pain, as I recall.
Garland for a tree used to be a brightly colored metallic affair (made of tinsel), or, even earlier, popcorn. Later incarnations included strings of beads, baubles and mini ornaments. I never could get it to look right (drape, evenness, etc), so I finally just gave up on it.
If you're a boomer, or older, you'll be happy to know that your tinsel made before the early 1970s was likely made from lead foil. Merry Christmas!
Easy for sure and I think only fully appreciated in the app once the graphics fall. A GARLAND is a thing - the ones we had growing up were tinsely but all the pine and fir roping you see everywhere this time of year fits the description - I believe Dickens described the ghost of Christmas past as having a GARLAND draped around him.
Buck
AM I LATE, SIBERIA, CLEAVE are all solid - the grid is well filled for the most part. The O’s connection is a cute nuance but kind of disjoint to the scheme.
Hozier
Pleasant Christmas morning solve. Enjoy the day everyone!
Sufjan
Merry Christmas, all! And Happy holidays if you’re not a Christmas-observer. I enjoy this blog and the comments so much - and the puzzling too, of course. Wishing us all peace in the new year.
As for the puzzle, sort of cute, very easy except for the SE, where I for some reason had trouble with CLEAVE, OVEN, and SEDANS. Also would not have found the tree outline without the puzzle software showing it.
All proper Christmas trees have garlands. For a distinguished wordsmith, your comment was silly.
CATARACTS was my last entry and I barely got it due to those two crosses, the singer and the handle ones. I basically guessed at it (JOHNX never guesses) and somehow I solved it.
Interesting that the tree was crossed with MORONS and ASS. I don’t know the significance here but I’ve got my staff working on it.
The constructor made a note in the Wordplay blog asking he was crazy for wanting his children to stay home and make a spreadsheet instead of going into the woods to get a Christmas tree, like he had done as a child. That’s crazy, man.
Ciao, babe.
RANDO thoughts:
• I love the clues where what you think is a verb turns out to be a noun, such as [Votes for] for AYES, and [Handle things?] for AT SIGNS.
• Having the O's of the tree be the only O's of the grid made this grid much tougher for Jacob to fill in, and bravo on that, Jacob!
• When I saw the cross of CAT and CANARY, what sprung into mind was Sylvester.
• Lovely PuzzPair© of the watermelon clue and PITT.
• So witty of Jacob to come up with the idea of a literal O Christmas Tree.
• I was given a stern talking to by a relative living in Phoenix after I pronounced the G in SEGUARO.
To all, a wonderful day, for whatever reason, and to Jacob, thank you for a sweet mood-lifter of a puzzle!
Rex Parker: Please delete my duplicate post at the other end of this link.
Though Riprock is not a fan of the game art in its various forms, all of which are strictly limited by the game parameters, some post-game animation has drawn a thumbs up - the caroming ball lighting passage through all four quadrants on 2024-05-13, for one.
This was no such exception. The distinction, not the art itself, but the surprise. While the few others were a sort of postprandial amuse-bouche (yes, not before or during.. after), the embellishment here was announced, setting the gamer up to figure, "can I work the design before curtains?": 5d, [..or a literal hint to what can be drawn by connecting nine letters when this puzzle is finished]. But this mental 'drawing,' nigh onto impossible.
You mean..? Exactly. The game turned on that verbose clue, because then it was stuck in my head, for the rest of the game. Had 5d.. [Holiday carol]. Then boom, different ballgame.
Separately, Riprock was expecting the German title, "O Tannenbaum," at 5d, the original, the more familiar, the better. But not make or break.
Again, another early week fail - AsSIGNS at 38d to set me up for CAscades.. at 40a, em. CATARACTS should have been, was obvious. Took a full 18 sec to suss error. The need for speed, not paying off.
Elsewise, the clues.. on balance, okay I guess. I cannot recall another game in which one clue founders the caboodle. This, it.
Having gone to Pitt, that clue bothered me. The Allegheny is maybe technically "near" Pitt's campus (a few miles), but it's not culturally relevant to it. And I'd guess the Monongahela is geographically closer.
Anyway, sorry to be a grinch, I've just never seen my school in a crossword. Merry Christmas :)
Naticked twice. AUER/ROI and MARA/ORA. In what crossword world are these two crossings a good idea?
Merry Christmas all!
@anonymous -- To me, those instructions are vague and don't obviate using O's elsewhere in the grid.
Mostly easy, but I needed trial-and-error in the MARA/SAGUARO/ORA area. I also didn't understand ATSIGNS, but thanks to Anonymous for the explanation (pretty far out, I'd say). Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukah to all.
Imagine a tenth (or eleventh or twelfth) “O” in the grid. Now read the instructions again. “Nine letters” makes sense solely if “9” is a meaningful unit—if there are nine and only nine “O”s. Otherwise, it’s just “nine random letters.”
At least you concede that the wording in the clue is “vague.”
Merry Christmas to Rex and the commentariat! Rex’s critiques are valid, and I agree it is not as delightful as yesterday’s Nutcracker theme, but on balance I enjoyed it.
Themed malapop when I guessed tinsel where LIGHTS went, then later got to TINSEL.
Second-worst puzzle graphics ever, behind yesterday's ... whatever they were. You know what you get when you connect the Os? A big triangle. One that does not look like a Christmas tree. And has no PRESENT under it. The dough wasn't work the kneading, as they say.
Our family Christmas tree decorating method.
1) Male head of household strings the lights
2) Female head of household stings the garland
3) All family members put on most of the ornaments
4) My half-sisters put on the two ornaments made out of samoyed fur from their beloved childhood pet
5) Female head of household puts the fairy atop the tree
Hey All !
First, Merry Christmas!
Now here's a puz that cries out for circled letters. Or at least an indication of which letters to use for the TREE. I suppose if I stared at the puz a bit more, I'd've seen it. But, not seeing said TREE, I knew either the NYT puz site, or Rex, would give me the final product. So I solved regularly, and upon completion, Bam!, CHRISTMAS TREE animated in the grid. "Ah, nice", said I. With Red and Yellow ornaments, no less.
Grid is 14 Long, since Revealer is only 14 letters. Too bad couldn't have had a Rebussed STAR for the top O. That would've been cool.
Nice puz, a few other Christmasy clues thrown in. Does the job for Christmas Day.
Got a funny Uniclue for @Gary, RANDO ASS OLLIE, although I'm not gonna attempt a clue for it!
Hope Santa brings you a lot of PRESENTs!
Merry Holidays, and Happy Wednesday!
No F's (In the spirit of Christmas, it gets a pass)
RooMonster
DarrinV
Singing season ended just in time as my cold has finally kicked in solidly and now I am a bass instead of a tenor. Made it through the Christmas Eve service, at least.
Never saw the O's, as that instruction sailed right past me. Had ATSIGNS and still didn't get it. That kind of a morning. GARLANDs are familiar to me, as is TINSEL, which we stopped putting on our tree because the cats would try to eat it, not a good idea.
AUER? This looks like a classic crossword collection of letters, but new to me.
OK Christmas effort, JMD. A Jolly Merry Day to all and God bless us every one.
I also liked backwards - EATOUT GETIN
Somewhat disappointed at the end since I thought the reveal was going to be the letters of christmas (of which there are 9) in the shape of a tree, making a literal “christmas” tree. The “o”s just didn’t do it for me.
Can someone explain the clue for 62 across for me? I can’t understand how “Pairs of jolly bells?” comes to “els”. Thanks!
Another hand up for getting in rough water with CAscades and AsSIGNS. I thought in general the cluing was more Thursday-like than Wednesday. In particular, “CATARACT” usually refers to sloping fast water rather than a large waterfall. Also lost the second A in SAGUARO…ah me, in hindsight a well-crafted and timely puzzle with clues close enough for a happy holiday.
The puzzle was cute and I enjoyed but I will confess it was the hardest Wednesday puzzle for me that I can remember.
Merry Christmas, ya old grouchš . Although you do make me smile. Love to you and your family.
Well, I for one am gonna just put in a plug for AUER, Leopold, as being the maternal grandfather of AUER, Mischa, who is one of my favorite comic character actors of the screwball comedy era, most notably the absolute pinnacle of the genre, "My Man Godfrey." He plays Carlo, the freeloading "protegƩ" of the ostensibly wealthy Bullock family, supposedly being groomed for a Carnegie Hall piano concert, but apparently capable of playing only one piece, Ochi Chornya, one-handed while scarfing down some delicacy with the other. If you haven't seen it, you should do yourself a favor.
Puzzle was ok, except I really have no use for the gimcrackery for which NYTXW gave up the perfectly satisfactory .PUZ format in favor of this kludgy interface that is continually forcing typos because no matter how I adjust the setting prefs it just refuses to behave. I said blecch when it was introduced and I hold to that opinion. I don't want pineapple on my pizza and I like doing x-words because I like wordplay, not cutesy effects that will never remotely approach what can be done with actual video games if that's what you want.
this is something like the 5th time in 125 years that hannukah begins on Christmas day. a hannukah themed puzzle would have been awesome. maybe with a menorah graphic. oh well, happy holidays to everyone
Easy, fun, colorful puzzle on my iPad. And the Christmas orbs from Monday are the only O’s in the grid.
Learned PIU means “more” in music notation, AUER clued as the Hungarian violinist rather than the Clan of the Cave Bear author, and the location of a MANTIS’s only ear. Also getting fond of the slang RANDO.
In the spirit of Christmas fun, a very sing-along-able song.
And the Met’s William to pair with. For next year.
Thank you, Rex, for the annual holiday pet pics, always a joy!
Merry Christmas! And Happy Hanukkah tonight.
And it's not a "state school". It receives funding from the state but is not part of the state system.
Honda Civics have famously come in other-than-4-door-sedan variety over the years. True, at this moment they're all 4 door, but there have been 2 and 3 door (hatch) Civics for years.
Merry Christmas to most of you.
Happy Chanukah. I solve on paper and I didn’t know what to connect to see the tree.
SARGE isn't even close to being a base boss. Platoon boss, yes.
@anonymous -- Ah. Very good point, and well made. So it's more a nice accomplishment than a nice touch.
Is Moki smirking bro❓❓
Someone just did something lovely for me this Christmas morning and the puzzle has gone right out of my head. Oh, yes, I remember now -- it had something to do with my being urged to connect squares and draw something. You all know I never do that sort of stuff. But I'm sure that if I did, what I would end up with is a tree. I'll go to Rex's column now and see what it's supposed to look like.
Just between you and me, though, this has given me an idea -- no, not the drawing a tree part -- for a Christmas-themed puzzle for next year. I think it's a crunchy idea if it can be made to work. Alas, I will not have the invaluable puzzle knowledge and keen insights and grid-making brilliance of my usual collaborator who is in the midst of a boycott of the NYT for political reasons and refuses to submit there "for the foreseeable future." So I shall have to find a new collaborator.
But at least I have a fresh theme idea that I like. Sometimes they seem so darned slow in coming...
Happy holidays to everyone.
To make a symmetrical treeangle with the only O’s in the puzzle while keeping the fill smooth is mighty impressive. I thought it was fairly easy and very well executed and fun
I can almost hear the wheels of your mind turning and look forward to the end result of your latest brainstorm. Wishing you a lovely Christmas Day, dear Nancy.
It’s referring to joLLy beLLs.
Medium for me. No WOEs but I had some trouble in the north with ozone before ETHER and adze before RASP. Plus SUCKA did not come easily and I had the same problem with CUT OPEN as @Rex did.
Delightful graphic but I agree with @Rex about the reveal clue, liked it more than he did.
Merry Christmas all!
The Os
Great to have a Christmassy puz on this particular festive day. And an "O" CHRISTMAS TREE was simple, but yet elegant. Nice one.
Did my usual paper-based solvequest, so nuthin lit up, when I was done. But the theme mcguffin had lit up for m&e, after I saw the top three O's, plus read [and quickly solved] the 5-Down revealer clue.
staff weeject picks: ORA, ROI & TOS. Essential puztheme buildin blocks.
fave stuff included: SUCKA. LIGHTS. PRESENT. GARLAND. TINSEL.
Thanx, Mr. McDermott dude. gOOd tree decOratin.
Masked & Anonymo6Us
... and Merry Christmas to y'all ... you, too, monitors ...
"Gianter Christmas Puz" - 9x9 12 min. themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
The construction is quite a feat--placing all those Os in the right places, and nowhere else. I'll accept a little weak fill for that.
Nit: the 'ether' is out of space, not the upper atmosphere. It doesn't actually exist, as modern science has learned.
Hardest part for me is reading 'red nose' as 'red rose' for far too long!
Well this was just a sweet, very agreeable Christmas themed puzzle and I do appreciate the observance of the occasion. Seems like we used to have holiday puzzles a lot more often than we do any more. Maybe they have gone the way of GARLAND and TINSEL on the TREE and just don’t get any respect these days.
I’m thrilled to see my Sassy girl featured in the gallery today, and she really feels special now. I can tell. The others are all great too. The comment on Moki’s picture reminds me of something I once read: If you think your dog can’t count, try putting two treats in your pocket and only giving him one.Thanks again RP, for all the holiday smiles.
SW -- STACKED UP:
1. Unknown acronym in clue, unknown acronym as answer
2. Name
3. Name (from an animated cartoon, I assume?)
4. Name (Yes. I've heard of him, but that did little good given the
obscurity/obfuscation of everything else here. Anyway, Lucy
was the "funny" one -- he was her straight man/foil.)
32 D / 37 A: Two unknown names crossed (ORA / MARA)
Santa got stuck in the snow in Natick.
Sorry to see Rex as Scrooge, or the Grinch, but that's what I see. Complaints seem forced, although that's not terribly unusual š
You're not a grinch I thought the same thing, and I was mentally mapping the best way to get from, say, The Cathedral of Learning, to the shores of the Allegheny and there's not even a short, direct route. Odd cluing.
I print the puzzle and fill it by hand, so I came to Rex to a) find out what I was supposed to connect to get a tree and b) resolve the MARA/ORA "natick". And for a little holiday snark - just a little.
O CHRISTMAS TREE was easy to guess. At first I had ANYHO(O) for 41D and felt Grinchy about it till I realized it's ALTHO. For 39A I considered BELAY before going with AVAST. Never figured out 62A "Pairs of jolly bells" till I read Rex. And briefly considered DONKEY for 46A (some kind of rebus maybe?) because our Sunday school never mentioned ASS.
Happy Christmas Rex and all!
An amuse-bouche is meant to tantalize your tastebuds to get you ready for the meal. Afterwards those little treats are called mignardises.
This was a fun, joyful, holiday-appropriate puzzle & it lit up my day - cloudy, cold (but not as cold as recent days) & a bit snowy on the streets of NY.
as well as the grid.
Thank you, Jacob :)
And still loving the pet pics, Rex :)
#Lewis: Uh -- Okay, so how DOES one pronounce SAGUARO without the "G"??? "SAURRO" or something similar?
Natick city on the R in Mara/Ora. Tried every letter until I got there. Oh and the puzzle sucked.
So many Grinches humbugging about this breezy puzzle with a light Holiday VIBE. I found it to be perfect for a cozy winter's morning with a sweet mug of something warm, finishing with a cute O CHRISTMAS TREE graphic. Sometime your PRESENT may be a new bike and sometimes it's socks, but it's fun to unwrap just the same.
Bless Us Every One! (Feel free to insert the previous word if so minded)
Rex, you've never geard of garland on a Christmas tree?! Sparkly or white plastic? Or strung up pop corn and dried oranges? Anything on a string strung on a tree? What?!
The holiday pet photos have been a great addition to an already-great blog! Thank you for that. Your narratives on the photos are as entertaining as the photos themselves. (And thanks for including Sophie, even though she's my daughter's Yorkie, not mine!) Beautiful description of your favorite time of day. Merry Christmas to you and your family. Kathie
PedanticFrancophile 11:39 AM: "An amuse-bouche is meant...to get you ready for the meal."
Not quite. The amuse-bouche can be served also interstitially during a meal, Pedantic, which everyone here knows. English vocabulary. Mignardise is not.
As to the postprandial, yes, hence the parenthetical and the implied license.
Draw yourself other imagery to better suit your taste, because, be honest.. free of the postmortem blather, nine O's making a Christmas tree does not sound bells for anyone.
Big picture: had the clue for 5d been properly edited, that is, [Holiday carol], full stop, the relevant complaints? Poof! The online-gamer comments then, "oh, cute post-game animation, it touched me in my spehshal place... I was.. not.. expecting that." (Sure you weren't.) The pen-to-paper gamers, none the wiser.
Merry Christmas all you fellow Rexites! I'm not even a Christian but this holiday has never been about religion to me so I don't worry about what I call it.
While solving this last night, noticed the assorted tree clues but then forgot them until reading Rex this morning. I solve using Across Lite, so no animation for me, and agree it just makes one giant triangle. (Agree with @DrBB about greatly preferring the .puz format despite missing out on things like this.)
@Ted, I had a 1991 Honda Civic Wagon which was a remarkably roomy 5 door hatchback despite looking a little goofy. In those days, my head would brush the ceiling of a normal Civic sedan but the wagon had several inches to spare!
@jberg I completely agree with your objection to ETHER as clued. It was the imagined ingredient of empty space, I seem to recall.
Suh WAA row
I usually print the puzzle and solve on paper. For some reason last night I solved on-line. Happy accident because it was fun to see the green tree and colored lights appear.
I hd enjoyed the puzzle before that with its Christmas clues. Took a wile to come up with Christmas tree (from the "o") but I heard the song immediately from the" Do you ---what I ---"
clue.
Happy Holidays to all.
The small dish served between the appetizer/starter and the main dish is called entremets, which, oddly enough, translates to "between the dishes".
Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah!
Much respect for the construction here even though the connect the dots/picture in puzzle theme leaves me a bit cold. I did not realize it until @Lewis pointed it out - the O's that needed connecting were the only O's in the whole grid - that added some real elegance to the whole affair.
I got held up in a couple of places - 34D was especially thorny for me - had REFUGEES at first, switched to ESCAPEES and could not let either go for the longest time. Then GETUPS finally fell which led to the light bulb for EVACUEES.
Once I finally got it, really liked the cluing for ATSIGNS "Handle Things?" but had ASSIGNS for a while as it sorta/kinda made sense to me. That one took a bit of time as well.
Also had "HOPIN", which I've heard MUCH more often than the correct answer GETIN, for a couple of minutes.
HASA and SUCKA are a couple of answers I could live happily without seeing again. All in all a light hearted, fairly happy
Christmas-themed trip. Not too much excitement or drama, but happy enough (maybe that's what we all need for the holidays!)
Off now to clean off last year's wax from our menorahs and check to see what changes we're going to make in our latke recipe this time around. Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy holiday!
It's not just a Christmas tree. As the revealer tells us, it's an "O" Christmas tree!
I remember that lead tinsel. You could take strands, smush them into a hard little balls, and then flick them at targets around the room until mothers or grandmothers or aunts made you stop! Ah fond Christmas memories!
Entremets and amuse-bouche are not the same. An amuse-bouche, such as a bite-sized pear sorbet, can be served between courses as a palate cleanser. It translates to, "oddly enough, as a 'Francophile,' you must know this."
Feliz navidad a todas.
So thankful to @š¦ and y'all for showing up here and making crosswording so much more enjoyable than the decades of doing them alone in the bathroom with pen and paper like a caveman.
That's a cute tree. I love it. Making sure those Os were properly placed and were the only ones without wrecking the puzzle is great.
However, [State school near the Allegheny river, familiarly] is textbook awful. Here's some other things PITT is near, familiarly: DQ, The Depot, Mickey Dees, Jacques Penneys, and a cake shop that refuses to bake for gays, probably, called Hate Bakery, familiarly. It's so dumb to say something is near something else. I'd heard of the Allegheny, but it could've been in Montana for all I know. And also what counts as NEAR? If you're an ant, it's probably insurmountably far, but viewed from Jupiter, it's in the same spot. And, wasn't there a reasonably well known Pitt? Brad somebody? No wait, I'm thinking of English clergyman poet and translator Christopher.
š¤Ŗ [Ding dongs] MORONS.
Propers: 8
Places: 7
Products: 1
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 3
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 26 of 69 (38%)
Funnyisms: 3 š
Tee-Hee: ASS.
Uniclues:
1 Weird one's gravelly voice after too much time smooching 20-year-olds.
2 Shark food used by unwise Frenchman.
3 The hill my nephew climbs every holiday meal.
4 Some dude's hop.
5 Prepare to autopsy a coal mine homicide victim.
6 Reluctantly re-tweet.
1 AL'S COED RASP
2 LES MORON'S CHUM (~)
3 MONT OUT EAT
4 RANDO ASS OLLIE
5 CUT OPEN CANARY
6 EKE OUT AT SIGNS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Swimming pools. NOBODY DRYERS.
¯\_(ć)_/¯
This Francophile lives in France 6 months/year and dines at French restaurants when in NYC the other 6 months, so I am speaking (writing) from experience. Additionally both my French & English dictionaries say that an amuse-bouche is a small serving before the meal. If a waiter hands you a palate cleanser/entremets and calls it an amuse-bouche, he is not French.
Post a Comment