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Tiny, juicy bit to eat / MON 2-24-25 / Bosom buddies, in modern lingo / Disabuses of false notions / Adventurer from Neverland / Some out-of-office training / Prepared students specifically for material on standardized exams / Parent's conversation-ending reply / Classical source of inspiration
Monday, February 24, 2025
Constructor: Rena Cohen
Relative difficulty: Medium (solved Downs-only)
Theme answers:
WASHESDISHES (20A: Helps with dinner cleanup)
FIELDEXPERIENCE (29A: Some out-of-office training)
TAUGHTTOTHETEST (46A: Prepared students specifically for material on standardized exams)
FIELDEXPERIENCE (29A: Some out-of-office training)
TAUGHTTOTHETEST (46A: Prepared students specifically for material on standardized exams)
Peter Pan is a 1950 musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up with music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein; it opened on Broadway on April 24, 1950. This version starred Jean Arthur as Peter Pan, Boris Karloff in the dual roles of George Darling and Captain Hook, and Marcia Henderson as Wendy. The show was orchestrated by Trude Rittmann and Hershy Kay and conducted by Benjamin Steinberg. The show ran for 321 performances, closing on January 27, 1951. (wikipedia)
• • •
I actually kinda liked two other answers, both of which I struggled with a bit today, as I was trying to solve Downs-only. CHUGGED took me a bit because the "C" came from "C MINUS," and let me tell you, if you're solving Downs-only, that letter before MINUS? Could be lots of things. Well, four things, technically, but that's a lot. And then the clue for CHUGGED wasn't really giving me "drinking"—I was thinking eating, like "gulping" down your food. So the first letter was a mystery and the specifically drinking context was a mystery, so ... it just took some hacking and patience, that's all. Much worse, much harder, was GETS REAL (8D: Sinks in). That clue was little help. The answer is so figurative ... or the clue is ... whatever, you really gotta think metaphorically for that answer to, uh, sink in, and I was staring at ---S-EA- with absolutely no idea how to complete the answer, for what felt like a long time. I abandoned the area, got almost everything else, came back to it, tried GETS REAL, but sincerely did not think it was right. So I was stunned (said "omigod" out loud), when I completed the grid in the SW and got the "Congratulations" message. GETS REAL. Wow. Nailed it, I guess. Guess that was a good guess. Better than any other ideas I had, that's for sure (CAPS HEAT? EATS BEAR?)
The fill on this one feels less than great. That SW in particular (ETRE TAT, SSNS ENO), but also the NW (UTAHANS and all its spelling variants, always ugly, ETC. ETC., never satisfying) ... REN BTS RASTA OHMS ESTE INIT (alongside EATIT?). It's probably just average, but the fact that I'm noticing short fill at all on a Monday is disappointing. As for "SAYS ME" (13D: Parent's conversation-ending reply), it's a fine answer, but the clue does not strike me as accurate on two counts. First, it doesn't sound very parental. Sounds more like schoolyard bully. The grammar and the childishness just makes the "parent" part ... dubious. Also, LOL at the idea that saying "SAYS ME!" to a child is going to "end" the "conversation." Does anyone involved in the making of this puzzle have kids? My kid would've laughed in my face if I'd said "SAYS ME!" and she would've been right to do so.
Bullet Points:
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- 36D: Adventurer from Neverland (PETER PAN) — I assume everyone knows who PETER PAN is but I made the answer my "Word of the Day" anyway in honor of Jean Arthur, whom I adore, and whose performance as PETER PAN I was reminded of today while watching some of the extras on my Blu-ray of the 1935 John Ford film The Whole Town's Talking (starring Edward G. Robinson in dual roles, as a milquetoast accountant and a vicious gangster). Any chance I have to add Jean Arthur content to the blog, I'm gonna take it.
- 48D: Business reversal (UPTURN) — took a beat or two for the term "business reversal" to mean anything to me. Then I wrote in UPTICK.
- 23D: Bosom buddies, in modern lingo (BFFS) — you mean "bosom buddies" isn't considered "modern" anymore? That's so sad.
- 39D: Classical source of inspiration (MUSE) — first thought was much more specific (CLIO, the MUSE of History), but that didn't look good in the grid so I backed it up, one level of generality, and voila!
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27 comments:
My five favorite original clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Dijon-mustered "yes"? (3)
2. Home to many kings and queens ((7)(3)
3. How criticism of a pastry chef might be delivered? (6)
4. Ones who should prepare for their day of reckoning? (4)(4)
5. Big shot performer? (5)(10)
OUI
HOLIDAY INN
TARTLY
MATH TEAM
HUMAN CANNONBALL
Because I said so! is what parents say to their kids; SAYS ME is kind of equivalent in meaning but as @Rex pointed out completely different in tone and implication. I didn't get much traction the top half of the grid but my time was below my Monday average, so it didn't turn out to be as difficult as I first feared.
I think "SAYSME" is a parent's reply to "Says who?" from a kid who questions a parental statement about behavior. It's ungrammatical, of course, but more emphatic than "Says I." I think it's forgivable.
I had "bae(s):" for" best friends" until coming up with FRAYED, which gave me BFFS. This wasn't as easy as most Monday puzzles, in part because the circled letters didn't add anything to the solve.
The theme seemed like an afterthought - why even bother with a theme that tepid ? ENGARDE tripped me up today - the brain just didn’t want to engage with that one (and FIELD EXPERIENCE didn’t jump right out at me either).
Fine Monday puzzle and a good introduction for newer solvers to circles and how they work. Maybe the first one I've done in a long time with no no-knows.
The PRADO has a higher concentration of what we in the art world call "good stuff" than most museums I have been to, and it evoked fond memories of Madrid, so yay for that one.
I'm sure OFL would never end a discussion with a child by saying SAYSME, but it's something I've heard with discouraging frequency from parents in general. Seemed as valid and interesting as METHREE.
@Roo-A ROO in a clue is a half point for you.
Like your Mondecito just fine, RC. No Real Challenge but smooth as a smelt and thanks for all the fun.
Feels like a really sloppy execution of the theme. The extra E in FIELDEXPERIENCE, two extra Ts in TAUGHTTOTHETEST, additional 'straight sets' all over the grid (e.g. the SE from SEAM and the T from UPTURN, the first S in SAYSME, either E in ESTE, the T in NET).
On the plus side, I like the clue and answer for ME THREE.
Coulda been “straight sets” as in how Serena Williams mostly defeated her opponents ?
Rena’s three Times puzzles have been rich with wordplay, and I, a wordplay-loving spirit, have gotten a kick out of them. Today, I love how she bent SETS STRAIGHT into setting SET straight, vertically and horizontally.
There were a pair of wordplay bonuses for me as well:
• I saw how SETS STRAIGHT can become another valid phrase when you reverse the words – STRAIGHT SETS – and I wondered if there were others. @Puzzlemucker, a commenter on the WordPlay blog, came up with the excellent HOLD ON / ON HOLD. And here are some more: HOUSE GUEST, MAN CAVE, DOG SHOW, RAT PACK, and DRY RUN.
• A marvelous observation by NYT puzzle editor Tracy Bennet, that showed up in the WordPlay blog, that RUT can be clued as {Groove] or [Not a groove]. Hah!
Just a word playground today. On top of that, I was charmed by beauty in words: MORSEL, FRAYED, and CHUGGED. Ahhh.
Thank you, Rena, and please, keep ‘em coming!
Typical downs only Monday… I got about half or more of the puzzle but lost patience and looked at some across clues. I figured Rex wouldn’t care for the theme and neither did I. I had scarfed for CHUGGED and got stuck there until I looked at some across clues. Sigh.
Never heard the term TAUGHT TO THE TEST before. Seems incorrect to me somehow. “Taught to test” feels still weird but less awkward somehow. I wanted SAT Prep or something like that.
I love a good, clean Monday where you can ignore the theme. Well done, Rena!
Hey All !
Revealer could've been STRAIGHT SETS and still would've worked. Was wondering about the extra E and T in their respective slots not being circled. They don't line up, or have a corresponding S.
Got an OOXTEPLERNON cousin, ALPMAERUTWEE. Nice to meet you. 😁
Didn't hit the trouble spots Rex mentioned. Of course, his troubles add .3 seconds to his solving times, so it's all relative.
Easy MonPuz. Done regularly, Across and Downs. I don't do gymnastics to solve puzs. Har.
Monday again. Hope it's a good one.
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
First puzzle I have ever broken 6 minutes
Seven comments, only! It's not that early, so I'm guessing there's a logjam in the moderation process.
Anyway--it's a simple theme, but it seems to me there's a flaw. If the idea is that the circles letters spell out SET in straight line--I guess that's what it means -- then where is the second S in SETS? SET STRAIGHT is a phrase, but the clue says "disabuses," not "disabuse," so SETS is the word that has to be spelled out. I'm a little dubious about the STRAIGHT part, as well, but it's the missing S that really bothers me.
I know it's Monday, but the cluing is really simple; spelling out that the shades are shades of color, for example. I did wonder at UPTURN as a "business reversal" -- it's true that going from a downturn to an UPTURN is a reversal of direction, but I have absolutely never heard or seen "reversal" in a business context when it did not mean a downturn. But it's a puzzle, and deceptive clues are a good thing -- I wish there had been some more of them.
here s an interesting tidbit-- the word "set" has the most pages in the printed second edition of the OED of any word I believe
Still only 7 comments -- but my earlier one hasn't been posted yet. Anyway, I missed the part about SET being in a STRAIGHT vertical line. I still think the other S is needed, though.
I'll come back later to see if there are any more comments.
31D (PRADO) reminded me. After spending a long morning in a museum in Florence years ago, I wrote to a friend: I just spent three hours looking at paintings and my uffizis are killing me.
A eclectic group of themers—helping with clean-up, preparation for a job, a controversial teaching method, and a disciplinary mode that reverses to a tennis win. Trouble spots were trying to spell ENGARDE with an English Guard, not knowing the “O” in PRADO, and having to dig deep into my crossword vocabulary for EEYORE. Also began with the idea that BAE was the modern term—tough to realize that BFF may have been already superceded. Liked this one, especially ending with METHREE.
I like long answers -- in particular grid-spanners -- much more than I dislike 3-letter answers. So I quite liked the fill in this Monday puzzle -- and I also appreciate how almost completely name-free it was. As for the theme? I solved it as a themeless and only afterwards came back to see what the tiny little circles had wrought.
What they had wrought was pretty impressive, construction-wise -- though the accomplishment didn't add anything to my solving experience. But it certainly didn't hurt it either: the difficult feat was accomplished without compromising any of the fill. As to the large number of 3-letter answers which, I imagine, has been mentioned by one or more people: my theory is that a clue for a 4 or 5-letter word can be just as uninteresting as a clue for a 3-letter word and that, therefore, there is nothing inherently bad about 3-letter answers. Thought this was a nice Monday.
Enseñé para el examen.
Doubling down on the @Nancy-Circles™ again today. At least they're lined up perfectly in both directions and don't ask for any post-solve admiration. A good deal tougher than usual Monday, but I'm prepping for the once-a-decade procedure and I haven't eaten for 24 hours and I'm cold, and jittery, and filled with existential remorse, and I suppose it's affected my solving skill. Either that or it's a tough puzzle or Im stupid.
The instant I see K-pop I write in BTS because nothing else in the clue will bring additional helpful information. I'm betting there's other groups doing whatever K-pop is, couldn't we try learning about some of them too? We've learned a little about rap (albeit with a good deal of whining), so we're ready for K-pop group number two ... SAYS ME.
Back when I taught high school, we taught sophomores an essay format to pass the high school competency exam. Then, in 11th grade I had to unteach them that so they could write like normal human beings. I will bet if I asked most of them today to write an essay as 50-year-old adults, most of them would begin the second sentence with, "First, ..."
People: 6
Places: 2
Products: 4
Partials: 8
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 22 of 76 (29%)
Funnyisms: 1 🤨
Tee-Hee: RACY ... oh really? Details please.
Uniclues:
1 Jittery Jah-er.
2 What the current said to the resistance.
3 Wendy's witchy wish.
4 Grad students prepare to destroy undergrads' futures with a hefty oiling.
1 FRAYED RASTA
2 ENGARDE OHMS
3 HEX PETER PAN
4 GRADERS CHUGGED
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Shoe wear for fashionable grape stompers. SYRAH STILETTOS.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That is EXACTLY what I thought!
This was a serviceable Monday puzzle that is good for new solvers but I confess…I thought it was as dull as dishwater to solve. The only answers with any zing were METOO (which I only saw post-solve since I didn’t need it) and TAUGHTTOTHETEST (an unfortunate “requirement” for 21st century teachers).
Yeah, as stated in different ways above, to me, SAYSME doesn’t ring quite right because, man oh man, that is one impertinent child that says “Says who?” to his parent! The more common (if not most) phrase by a parent in response to a plaintive “Why can’t I (do x) is “because I said so.” And THAT is usually after a few attempts to actually explain the “why.”
I think I enjoyed whooshing through this puzzle more than I was in learning that there was a theme (when I came here).
Thank you, Rena :)
Your comment cracked me up today, Gary, long before I got to the Uniclues or the gunk meter. The idea of a colonoscopy prep causing "existential remorse" is just too funny for words. Add to that the fact that I can't imagine WHAT you taught -- and then had to unteach -- to your students. So funny.
In fact, so funny that I think -- for the amusement of us all -- you should have this procedure done at least once every two years. Why should we have to wait another decade?
I'm ready to pronounce this the weakest, laziest theme ever, and I have statistics to support my claim. There are 26 letters in the alphabet, meaning that S and E and T represent 11.5% of the total. There are 190 spaces for letters in this grid, with 35 blocker squares. Those 190 letter squares today contain 21 T's, 21 (twenty-one!) S's, and 34 E's. Those three letters represent 40% of the letters in this grid. There are not three "SETs" in this grid, there are over twenty--three in the little circles, one in the revealer, one backwards (taught to the TESt) and at least 16 "Boggle" style SETs. How hard can it be to line up three S, E, T's when you have that many to work with? I know that those three letters are among the most common in grids, but if this is your theme, I'd like to see as few of them as possible other than the ones needed for the theme, and certainly not have them in clusters all over the place.
I will admit there is not a single Hidden Diagonal Word (HDW) SET in the grid--but there is a nice 5 letter HDW, SPREE, running from SW to NE in almost the dead center of the grid.
Easy-medium for me. No erasures and no WOEs, just fumble-finger hunt and peck typing.
Liked it, but @Rex makes some good points.
Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #988 was an easy Croce for me with the center stack a tad tougher than the rest. Good lick!
Sounds like @Rex didn't experience the joy of SETs today.
We didn't get Loren or Smith, but we did get MUSE today, which was nevertheless inspiring. I guess she's off bein' one of them GRADERS.
When in Madrid, PRAyDO go to the PRADO.
Mrs. Egs: Is our rug unraveling?
Me: FRAYED so.
Is the complete and definitive English dictionary for girls the LASSOED?
Erm..no....
I think I'm all SET for now. Thanks, Rena Cohen.
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