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Show where the term "Debbie Downer" originated, in brief / WED 1-15-2025 / Fashion photographer Richard / Popular wine from Bordeaux / Mess kitchen implement
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Constructor: Parker Higgins
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: Common "X for Y" phrases are re-parsed so the verbs become nouns
Theme answers:
Word of the Day: PEORIA (Illinois city whose name serves as shorthand for mainstream taste) —
Good morning everyone! Malaika here, for a slightly delayed Malaika MWednesday. I solved this puzzle while listening to Waxahatchee's new album-- I recommend for fans of Joni Mitchell, the Indigo Girls, etc.
- [Look for trouble] for STINK EYE
- "Look" as in "facial expression"
- [Good for nothing] for FREEBIE
- "Good" as in "item you can buy"
- [Open for business] for DEAR SIR OR MADAM
- "Open" as in "the opening of a letter"
- [Fit for a king] for REGALIA
- "Fit" as in "outfit" (this might be a more modern term, see, e.g. "fit check"
- [Run for the hills] for SKI SLOPE
- "Run" as in "stretch of land"
Word of the Day: PEORIA (Illinois city whose name serves as shorthand for mainstream taste) —
Peoria is a city in and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 census, making it the eighth-most populous city in Illinois.
The city is associated with the phrase "Will it play in Peoria?", which may have originated from the vaudeville era and is often spuriously attributed to Groucho Marx. [wiki]
• • •
What a treat to open the crossword app and see Parker's name! From my experience with his puzzles, he is really excellent at wordplay that is a little more clever than the average puzzle, while still being ultimately fun to solve (as opposed to an opportunity for the constructor to show off). Although, outside of the theme, Parker did show off a little bit here, by including pairs of fun, long down answers that had nothing to do with the theme: PREBOARDED, MINIWHEATS, BREAKS EVEN, and SCAVENGERS. This is tricky to do when the down entries have to cross through two theme answers (FREEBIE and OR MADAM on the right, and DEAR SIR and REGALIA on the left), but he pulled it off very cleanly. It's a nice touch in a puzzle where the theme answers themselves are shorter than the standard.
It's impressive to have a set of five symmetrical theme answers that totally nail the re-parsing, and I wonder if Parker had a list of fifty of these from which he plucked the best ones. I don't find any of these stretchy, although I am very used to using "fit" as a noun. I'm not sure if that is new slang or something that's been around for a while, but I have only heard it starting around 2019, so others who do not have a Gen Z younger sister constantly keeping them up-to-date on what the youths are saying might not be familiar. I do think my favorite here is [Good for nothing], because I think it's funny to imagine someone giving me something for free and me screaming "Good for nothing!!" at them.
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| Shoutout to my Gen Z Sister whose face I will not post without permission |
There were a couple of proper nouns I wasn't familiar with here. PEORIA and AVEDON both required every single crossing for me to get, as I've never heard of either before. If someone didn't know RAMI Malek or the phrase TETE-a-TETE, I could see them getting stuck. PADRE / ARCO also could have been a tough cross, although it wasn't a problem for me.
Outside of the theme, the puzzle is bursting with fun clues. [Got on first?] for PRE-BOARDED is a textbook example of how to elevate a pretty boring entry with an excellent clue. [Gig makeup?] makes you think of a setlist, or even stage makeup, but the answer, MEGS, is referring to megabytes which make up a gigabyte. And [Where you might dress up for a court appearance, informally?] for REN FAIRE is talking about royal court, not a modern-day legal courtroom. I'm sure there were others as well! Let me know your favorites in the comments.
Bullets:
- [Parthenon's place] for ATHENS — I had a history teacher who told us that you can remember Parthenon vs Pantheon by remembering that Italy makes pizzas in pans and thus is home to the Pantheon, and today that helped me with this crossword, so thank you Mr. Bell!
- [One who parties hearty] for RAVER — This struck me as kind of old-fashioned and quaint phrasing when compared with the 22 year olds I know who are going to raves!
- [Triangular pastries] for SAMOSAS — I have seen some publications make an effort to stop indicating the country of origin on many food entries. I think this tends to make the entries a little harder. I've never thought of a samosa as a pastry although I suppose it is! Now I really really want a samosa.
- [Vertex of an infamous triangle] for BERMUDA — I am flying to Bermuda soon and would not like to be reminded of the Bermuda Triangle's existence!!!
- [Parker House products] for ROLLS — If this was on purpose, it is very cute of Parker to sneak his name into the puzzle.
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93 comments:
Hmmm. I thought it was a themeless until reading the write-up. Typical Wednesday difficulty.
Up kind of early doing this one and enjoyed it. Now that I’m soothed heading back to sleep! Had “mega” for “megs” but that made no sense and set it straight.
On the tough side of medium for me. I got nowhere in the NW. I did not know LUTE and WANDS and FAST did not leap to mind, plus I tried sped before FLEW…so I solved mostly from the bottom up.
FULSOME is not an oft encountered word.
HAYS is just annoying and not just because the Y was my last entry.
Cute theme somewhat reminiscent of late week/Croce clueing, mostly liked it.
@Malaika: I don't want to spoil your handy mnemonic but I believe that spanakopita is made in a pan.
Fairly Easy for me. No WOEs (although I did need some crosses for 62A AVEDON) and only two overwrites:
1A: spEd before FLEW
18D: hulL before KEEL
I’m still not quite understanding the theme, could someone explain what “ It's impressive to have a set of five symmetrical theme answers”. How were they symmetrical?
Both Peoria and Avedon were drop-ins for me. Peoria is a common metaphor for "middle America," similar to Timbuktu or Siberia for a "far-away or isolated" place. Avedon is photographer you should get to know. His work is famous, even iconic. Google a list of his images and I would be surprised if you did not recognize some of them immediately.
Rex Higgins Rolls.
Happy Parker Day!
Never quite caught onto the theme, but it didn't matter. My only glitch was having "fled" instead of FLEW (I didn't know about suits in the tarot deck). When I fixed that the music sounded.
It’s too punny!
Felt Monday-easy. Attractive, graceful puzzle.
Never heard of Parker House, so didn’t know they made rolls, couldn’t parse RenFaire, and thought that winter coat was some kind of ice or snow (didn’t think of fur), so getting the last two letters of 54A (F and R) took me as long as doing the entire rest of the puzzle. Thought I was heading for a Wednesday PR until I got there. Oh well.
FULSOME And RENFAIR were unusual to me but recognizable and fun to parse out. REGALIA would have joined the club, except that it was shoehorned into that unfortunate little section with RAMI and AVEDON (which also took some of the luster of off a cute clue for LADLE as well).
Overall, a good puzzle, nice theme and just about the right difficulty for a Wednesday. Unfortunately, having two non absolute A-list proper names crossing is always a DEBBIE DOWNER for me.
FULSOME/MEGS gave me pause. thought it should be MEGa and Fulsome? when was the last time you heard that? 1A I started off with spEd before FLEW so right from the start I was a bit off. Never heard of the fashion photographer AVEDON. Also, a big duh for me, I kept thinking of the Pantheon in Rome... Instead of the Parthenon. So was thinking Italia or something along those lines. I never really bothered with the theme. Solid Medium
Four NYT puzzles now for Parker, and each one has been uber-entertaining. In each, the themes showcase English language quirks teeming with wordplay, puzzles which have simultaneously dropped my jaw and widened my smile.
Parker has a marvelous knack for finding these quirks; I don’t know if they just pop into his head or if he belongs to some quirk-study program. But they’re terrific, IMO.
If you want to experience or be reminded of his previous three, go to the archives and check out 6/16/22, 5/17/23, and 9/12/24.
Today he also widened my smile with some lovely non-theme entries. PREBOARDED, for one, felt fresh to me, and when I looked it up after solving, I saw why – neither it, nor “preboard”, nor “preboards”, nor “preboarding” have ever appeared in any of the major crossword venues. A true debut, plucked out of the ether.
Some lovely single-word answers as well: TENDERS (as clued), REGALIA, and the omg gorgeous FULSOME. I also loved column five – KEEL, SRS, LOOT – a palindrome sandwiched by two semordnilaps.
Just an abundance of lovely in the box today. Thank you, Parker, for a most splendid outing, and more please!
I am still fully convinced we are being gaslit by the "Debbie Downer first appeared on SNL" bit. I *swear* that term was in common usage before Rachel Dratch debuted the character, and refuse to be convinced otherwise.
I agree! I don’t think it originated on SNL.
Symmetrical within the grid. Go back and look at how they fall.
No real problems for me today. PEORIA was a gimme and AVEDON as well almost, just needed a cross or two to confirm. I didn’t quite get the theme til I read the write-up although in retrospect it seems obvious.
Malaika, I love it when you and Rex point out things a constructor would notice that a mere solver would miss. Lots of value added!
The only themer that gave me pause was the one with “fit” in the clue, so thanks for explaining that for this Boomer.
On the other hand, PEORIA dropped right in for me. “Will it play in Peoria?” used to be a question asked of any movie, stage show, book, etc., that might be too sophisticated for the common taste. Actually, I saw a news item not long ago that said that young people looking for an affordable place to live have turned Peoria into quite the hip community. I’ll have to check it out on my next cross-country road trip.
What does WOE stand for? I see it mentioned all the time, and I can gather from context that it’s a word one couldn’t figure out, but I can’t find the exact term spelled out anywhere.
Didn't need the "theme" to solve as these kinds of clues show up frequently and just require reading them correctly, so not as big a fan today as Malaika. I liked the long downs but I think they made the grid a bit choppy.
No real problems, didn't know RAMI but everything else was familiar. Don't remember the last time I saw FULSOME anywhere.
I have heard HAY used as a verb as an early spring around here has people saying "they're haying already".
And thanks to DEARSIR ORMADAM I'll be humming "Paperback Writer" all morning. Not a bad thing.
Nice enough Wednesday, PH. Perfectly Happy to complete your offering, and thanks for a medium amount of fun.
I came here just for this. 100% SNL did not invent "Debbie downer."
About average time for a Wednesday. AVEDON was a gimme - Fred Astaire's character in "Funny Face" was based on Richard Avedon. Wonder if I still have the issue of The New Yorker from late in Avedon's career - a series of photos of model posing with a skeleton, as I recall.
SAMOSAS - yum. Had Corn Flakes instead of MINI WHEATS for a while at 12D. Merlot and Mini Wheats - will they replace beer and pizza as breakfast of champions?
I also didn't see a theme
agreed! i remember saying it in high school in the '80s. snl perhaps gets credit for making the phrase more wide spread. (i also say nosy nellie something i made up when my kids were little (neither is named nellie). we love alliteration.)
Hey All !
Fill nice, lots of open space, lots of answers needing to jive (jibe?) with the Themers. Only 33 Blockers, another reason for lots of PuzSpace.
Was wondering how in tarhooties to parse the clues into the answers, thanks for the hand holding explanation, Malaika. The ole brain doesn't like to twist that way early in the morning.
FULSOME doesn't seem to be in the recesses of my mind. Unless it's over there, in a dust covered box on the bottom of that pile in the corner. Nice word. Had MEGa first, looking at FULaOME, thinking "That can't be right".
WHERE AM I related thing, if you're lost, and phone someone, they inevitably ask "Where are you?" To which you'd probably respond, "If I knew that, I wouldn't be lost!"
Have a great Wednesday!
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
What did you assume the multiple italicized clues were for?
I saw the theme and loved it! Right off. Anyway, glad to live in San Diego today with ARCP and PADRES making an appearance. That’s always fun. Cute pic, Malaika! I have a daughter that keeps me up to date, she’s right between Z and Alpha but identifies as Z because she’s already like “what are these Alpha kids talking about?” Haha.
He won a best actor Oscar a few years ago for playing Freddie Mercury, and has been clued with his last name over a dozen times since then.
Consider yourself surprised then. I didn't recognize any of them
The Parker House is also where the Boston Cream Pie was invented. And IIRC, Malcolm X worked there in his youth.
I heard Gen Beta starts with kids born this year, 2025. Just to keep y'all updated. 😁
For the Anonymous who asked about WOE, it stands for What On Earth, a little initialism this group cam up with, as a nicer way of saying What The F---, or WTF.
RooMonster Generational Guy (har)
Anon: WOE = What On Earth
What on earth. Used, as far as I know, when you just have no idea what the answer could possibly be because it's simply not within your sphere of knowledge. ARCO was a WOE for me - I'm not from the region, I've never heard of it, I could never have guessed it.
That’s not what fulsome means. Sheesh.
Was proud of myself that my ancient analog brain recognized MEGS right away. Had a little problem getting FULSOME immediately because I was not familiar with the “overly” abundant meaning—I thought “abundant” would have been enough. Even the dictionary example I found uses an adjective to get across an “overly” meaning. Overall found this a fine puzzle with nothing I’d consider to be real junk.
The puzzle was enjoyable, perfect for a Wednesday with very imaginative clues, but my favorite part was Malaika's upbeat posting! It made me smile.
Hi Malaika and happy new year to you and your sister.
What a lovely Wednesday! Pleasant and polished and beautifully laid out in the grid. I particularly liked the center spanner with the perfectly situated black square in the middle. And the clues! Well, almost a source of entertainment on their own, plus the bonus of very few proper names.
I understand the themers were italicized, but not so on my paper print out. No worries though, the cleverness was easy to discern without them. I’m not in PEORIA but this was a big hit at my house. Thank you, Mr. Higgins.
I thought this was much easier than yesterday’s puzzle and my time reflects that. Different strokes…. Clever wordplay. Liked all the long downs a lot. Thought of “fit” as something a king could get into not as the more recent colloquial “outfit”.
One of the things I like best about this blog is learning about the intricacies of constructing. Our @Lewis is also a master of explaining the finer points like that too.
Castaway: I've been adrift for 40 days and 40 nights. WHEREAMI?
Local: Miami
Castaway: My, am I?
Local: it's pronounced my-am-ee.
Few have noticed how certain Kellogg'scereals are following Moore's law. After MINIWHEATS will come milliwheats, microwheats, nanowheats .....
It's great to be reminded of my sister, MEGSforbreakfast.
I really struggle at golf. I can seldom BREAKSEVEN on a par 5.
Just yesterday we had "Craters of the Moon locale" (IDAHO. Well guess what's the nearest town to Craters of the Moon. ARCO. Yep, it's also the first city ever lit by atomic energy, as the sign informs you as you enter town. It sits right next to the Idaho National Lab, where much early research was done.
My mother was more or less addicted to TUMS. She would always remind us, "Don't take TUMS backward or you'll be eating smut!" Now maybe you'll understand my awful penchant for turning and twisting words.
I liked this theme and other cluing a lot. It brought me a FULSOME amount of pleasure. Thanks, Parker Higgins. You're on a ROLL!
I agree. I thought the theme answers were very clumsy
Hays was annoying, as was Avedon and Oohed. I did enjoy Ren Faire & She/Her. The Parker House was a client of mine for many years so Rolls was quite nostalgic
I found this to be a very enjoyable Wednesday puzzle and I FLEW through it faster than a speeding bullet. I am an “old” so PEORIA and AVEDON were gimmes and I appreciate the bones thrown out on that. Still, like EasyEd, I immediately figured out MEGS which also made me feel like I haven’t been sleeping during our digital age.
Speaking of AVEDON…thank you Parker Higgins for prompting me to visit the AVEDON (foundation) website where I could scroll through his photos which reminded me that there is a reason he became famous. People should take a look. Of particular interest was the 1955 photo (year of my birth!) of a young shirtless Truman Capote and the fact that he photographed George H.W. Bush when he was Director of the CIA (1976). So many interesting photos, I could go on forever.
I see a pattern of somewhat tougher puzzles on Mondays and Tuesdays -- and I applaud it. Much of the cluing here was trickier than you expect to find on a Tuesday -- and one answer is so tricky that I don't get it at all.
Why is "someone who thinks outside the box" a MIME? Is it the voice box we're talking about? I used the F function to see if anyone here has mentioned MIME and they haven't. Someone will explain, please, yes?
"Open for Business" is too clever by half. It's an openING for a business LETTER. But rather a too-clever-by-half clue than a boring Tuesdayish one.
Poor Alaska and Hawaii -- relegated to mere INSETS. Will Greenland soon be joining them?
A nice Tuesday with a bit of crunch.
Thanks M the reprieve for Rex. Nice write up for a lovely mid week grid. Played a bit older as you noted since the entries you needed all the crosses for were wheelhouse gimmies for us octogenarians. Loved the punny theme today: dare I say “That’s just how Parker ROLLS?”
It was clued as “inside the box” - classic mime act - using flat hands to seem like they are trapped in a box the audience cannot see.
One of the mime Marcel Marceau famous routines was pretending he was inside a large box. I’m sure you could find it on YouTube.
It’s someone who thinks inside the box…a classic mime routine is being trapped in a box
I was stumped by MIME as well. The only thing I came up with was how they sometimes put their hands up like they’re pushing against a wall, so … inside a box?
Re-read the clue. It's inside the box, not outside, a common mime action.
what am i missing? stem does not mean stanch
This is trickier than a Tuesday because it’s Wednesday.
Um, it’s Wednesday, Nancy. Good morning!
*Inside the box
Hey, my anonymous friend - clues were not italicized on my print copy. BTW, this is supposed to be a friendly blog; no need for snark.
Have to agree with @Conrad. To @Malaika 's poor teacher: Pizza isn't made in a pan! At least not traditional Italian pizza. It gets cooked directly on the floor of the oven! No pan.
There is, however, a style of Roman pizza which is cooked in large square tray/pan: Pizza al Taglia. It's cooked in a "teglia" or tray. It's sold by the slice so you can munch on it while admiring The Pantheon.
Hi @Nancy I'm not sure if you are kidding, but today is Wednesday and the clue for Mime is inside the box. I might have missed something you mentioned previously???
Another way of saying "Nice Tuesday with a bit of crunch? Wednesday!
My clue reads "inside the box" and the reference was pretty clear to me.
Gee - I am old. I just thought meant that one was sad (woeful, perhaps) when one didn't know the answer!
Can't think of Richard Avedon without thinking of him Brooke Shields photos. They were so good.
Raver is still the widely used term for people who go to raves, and afaik there isn’t really any alternatives.
It's Wednesday!
I have a Richard AVEDON print of Lauren Hutton...it's quite FULESOME. Something you'd OOHED AT. Speaking of....Why is Debbie a Downer? I've met many, along with Karen's. Can't we use Billy Downer?.... or instead of Karen's, maybe Billy Bob's? Just wondering why the women get dumped on.
What an interesting. puzzle today. My favorite was STINK EYE. Then I sat back and wondered about the English language. Who came up with STINK EYE? The eye doesn't stink. So I guess you stare at something that stinks (like maybe trouble) and you EYEball it. Is that it? Try teaching English to someone foreign to our idiosyncratic ways. AHA.
I also suppose you could start your business letter with "Dear to whomever this concerns." What if you aren't a MADAM? Just curious.
I see our friend @Z dropped in yesterday. @egs...if you didn't see his late post last night, he mentioned you.
SAMOSAS can be filled with apples, and from the EWE, a dab of Roquefort.
Initial puzgrid-viewin reaction: "Hey! Lotsa the themers are gonna be Down answers!" Wrong again, M&A breath.
Different puztheme mcguffin. Like different.
favest thing: ORMADAM. Debut entry. And one of the few longball answers that ain't got any E's in it. Entire puz had 35 E's -- is that a new record?
honrable mention to: FUR/FAIRE.
staff weeject picks: EKE, AHA, SRS, & EWE. What might these PUPs all have in common?
Thanx for the fast feast, Mr. Higgins dude. ExcEllEnt wErk.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
p.s. And thanx for the primo blogsubbery, Ms. Malaika darlin. I read yer write-up, while listenin to "Chapel Bells" by the Fascinators [and then also the start of "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac].
... and now, a rare instance of runtpuz symmetry ...
"Symmetry Groupies" - 7x7 themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
There once was a lady named Kroll
With a notion exceedingly droll
At a masquerade ball
She wore nothing at all
And backed in as a Parker House roll
I'm with those who enjoyed a quick trip from FLEW to EWE. A clever theme, I thought - after STINK EYE pointed me in the right direction, I had fun trying to guess the rest with as few crosses as possible. Easiest: FREEBIE; hardest: DEAR SIR OR MADAM. Easy to fill in but hard for me to understand: REGALIA, so thank you @Malaika for explaining "Fit." Both easy and tricky - nice Wednesday!
Do-over: tell ME. Help from being old: PEORIA, AVEDON, Parker House ROLLS.
Liked: the grid neighbors FULSOME and SPARSE and the parallel WHERE AM I? and REN FAIRE.
I live near and know of Peoria, but I had no idea it was a common metaphor for Middle America. Must be a metaphor that isn't actually used by those of us who live in Middle America.
p.s.
PEORIA was an absolute gimme, at our house. Young M&A used to drive thru Peoria, goin to and from college. Crossin the Illinois river, on I-74. Sometimes givin extra students a lift. Occasionally stoppin in Macomb (to visit a girl friend). In my 62 Fairlane. Fond/Ford memories.
M&Also
I always enjoy a Malaika MWednesday. But it's a shame to not have OFL here today to link to the Smiths song in reference to STOPME
Deténme si ya has oído esto antes.
The southeast beat me today. Those theme entries seem deliberately awkward. Second day in a row of much harder than usual puzzles for me. I wonder how much collective angst has been, and will be wasted fretting over HAYS.
Speaking of fretting, if you look at The Musicians by Caravaggio you'll see the main character is tuning the lute (which is the main thing you do when playing a lute) and everyone around him is waiting with a pained look of agony. One dude is trying to figure out how the song goes. It's probably how boy bands get started. With that red hair and toga-fashions, you gotta question how popular they were with the ladies outside of the band. The dude on the left is just eating grapes. And, in the voice of 🦖 from yesterday, "Caravaggio? Are we still doing this?"
🤪 FLEW and FLUE and SKEW.
Propers: 3
Places: 3
Products: 8
Partials: 6
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 21 of 78 (27%)
Funnyisms: 4 🙂
Uniclues:
1 What greeted Spartans up north.
2 Bait and switchers.
3 How to not begin a letter in 2025 unless you are JK Rowling.
4 Abominable snowman dancing in an invisible box.
5 Abominable snowman coats offered on weekend night TV.
6 Bibs.
7 Those seeking sports reporting on YouTube.
8 Derisive opinion of first-class passengers.
9 Nickname of hideout for breakfast loving priest.
1 ATHENS STINK EYE (~)
2 FREEBIE TENDERS (~)
3 DEAR SIR OR MADAM
4 YETI RAVER MIME (~)
5 SNL FUR ADS (~)
6 SAMOSAS REGALIA (~)
7 ERIN SCAVENGERS
8 PRE-BOARDED SOOT
9 MINI WHEATS APSE
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: "Hairy" pet for Pokémon fan. PIKACHU CHIA.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I had a little off-line conversation with @Z. Despite my pleas, I dare say he won't be coming back.
It appears that most puzzlers either have never heard of fulsome or have heard of it but misunderstand its full meaning. It is a generally negative term for excessiveness. Typical usages are “fulsome praise” or “fulsome apology”. In both instances it indicates something that is overdone
I absolutely agree on the "gimmes" as I finished this puzzle faster than yesterday's and very substantially under my Wednesday average.
I enjoyed the punny clues, too, but I would not have noticed that they constituted a theme, had the clues not been italicized.
The 2024 Puzzlemania Super Mega Puzzle winners are starting to be contacted! A friend of mine was one of the 25 runner-ups and they won a NYT desk calendar and key ring. Wish it could have been the grand prize but oh well!
lol at uniclue 3
You motivated me to look up the definition of fulsome. Seems like an appropriate usage. However, fulsome has so many different meanings that it seems like it would never be a good idea to use this word.
Sure it does. Check out Merriam-Webster's fourth entry for "stem," which defines it as a transitive verb meaning "to stop or check by or as if by damming, especially: STANCH."
Like many of us, I felt a bit “themeless” and wandered through having noticed the italicized clues, but not feeling the theme. Alas, my start had me doing mostly downs for a while after I FLEd/FAST in the NW (1A/1D) and had to correct and get out a couple of my old magic WANDS to straighten myself out. This little foray into confusion gave me STINKEYE without its clue. Hate it when that happens.
In the NE, I loved PREBOARDED and a fave cereal, frosted MINI WHEATS. Smiled to see a clue for PEORIA. Haven’t heard the pols asking each other as a policy proposal rolls out, “Sounds good, but will it play in PEORIA?” in ages! Reminded me of my college days in Champagne-Urbana. OSKEWOW-WOW Illinois!!
Finally picked up the theme at 38 and 40A when I had to slow down to understand the clue (“with 40A, open for business”). Had _ _ MADAM at 40A so it didn’t take long to look back to figure out the cleverness. I enjoyed this one, and am thrilled to have Malaika back for 2025! Excellent analysis.
The puzzle as a whole had lots to enjoy: REGALIA, SAMOSAS, BREAK EVEN, and my fave of the day REGALIA just to add a few to my breakfast of MINI WHEATS. All in all a fun Wednesday.
For "Parthenon's place" I wanted ACROPOLIS which didn't fit, and then was stumped for a while. Finally thought "oh, ATHENS!"
The Parthenon is one place I have been (never PEORIA, unfortunately) but the visit was spoiled by an ugly fat man in a dirty sweat stained t-shirt blowing a whistle at people for some reason I can't recall. Athens wasn't that great either, but I did meet a lovely but memorably profane Australian girl.
I enjoyed this puzzle a lot. Very clever cluing. Also liked the four 10-letter answers that added extra joy to the interesting theme. I balked at the 41D answer RENFAIRE, but then I looked it up. It's a thing that peeps actually say. And there's even an HBO series named as such. Anyways. Like many of you, another hand up for entering SPED for 1A, which really slowed me down. Looking forward to seeing more of Parker Higgins' creations! Thx for the fun.
Oops! Wednesday!!! I guess this is what's meant by being a day late and a dollar short. Thanks for the corrections, everyone. Some of them were quite funny.
Re: inside/outside the box. I probably read it correctly and typed it incorrectly. But the correct one means as little to me as the incorrect one. It seems that @Whatsername and I are the only two people who have never seen a MIME pretending to be trapped in a box. I'm not exactly champing at the bit to see it performed by Marcel Marceau or anyone else. To tell the truth, I'm not a big fan of MIME. If you've been blessed with the gift of speech, use it, I say. I sort of feel the same way about classical ballet that "tells a story".
When I saw the clue for 27D "Hyenas and raccoons, for two" I thought "Here we go again".
In the 1972 book The Spotted Hyena: A Study of Predation and Social Behavior", the author, naturalist Hans Kruuk, dispels the common misperception that they are SCAVENGERS. His observations of their behavior in the Serengeti found that they were true predators in the same class as wolves and lions.
Can't come to the defense of racoons but I never considered them as SCAVENGERS either. Any racoon experts out there?
PREBOARDED (11D) reminded me of a classic George Carlin routine. Here's the YouTube video of his take on "Airline Announcements". Profane at times but hilarious.
Not sure how common but I became familiar with Peoria from its use I movies from the 30's & 40's "If it plays in Peoris it will play anywhere". Bordeaux wines can be made with Merlot grapes but are not labeled as Merlot, sometimes the grapes used can be found in small print on the back of the bottle. Many arcane regulations set what can be on French wine labels.
Around here raccoons are (affectionately enough) known as "trash bandits".
Sorry about spoiling your visit, but I’ve since washed the T-shirt.
I, too, had never heard of the expression Ren Faire, having always called it a Renaissance Faire. It seems the tendency these days is to shorten the full names of things whenever possible. (I'm old enough to remember when apps were applications!)
I thought of MEGA before MEGS as well, but the clue didn’t use “gigs”. Gigs are bigger than megs so the “makeup” of a single gif takes a plural amount of megs.
@Minori Dreams nothing to do with age! WOE is one of many terms that, as i understand it, were created here on this blog and are rex-world-specific. like kealoa, natick, PPP, etc. takes everyone a bit to get acclimated :)
-stephanie.
Just adopted a 2 year old pup with separation anxiety, vet suggested "doggie downers". He is well trained, gets lots of treats, hope someday he will be "good for nothing"!!!
Raccoons are damn clever, they'll get into any/everything they want. A friend had one as a pet, it "washed" bits of food in its water bowl so we'd give it sugar cubes as "appetizers". It caught on pretty quickly.
I attended Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and my college girlfriend went to Western Illinois University in Macomb, so I made that trip many, times, good memories.
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