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Airport sign carrier / SUN 7-20-25 / Japanese pitcher nicknamed "The Tornado" / Newberry-winning author Scott ___ / Scottish regional accents / Home to Uganda's presidential palace / The small screen's second Golden Age, informally / What the Mosquirix vaccine targets / It's literally "inflated" in the kitchen / Indian tourist mecca / Lover of Bassanio, in Shakespeare / Actress Smith of Fox's "Empire"
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Constructor: Michael Schlossberg
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- SISTINE CHAPEL (23A: Cardinal point?)
- CASH REGISTER (27A: Tipping point?)
- SPEED TRAP (51A: Fine point?)
- HERB GARDEN (53A: Plot point?)
- DATING SITE (69A: Match point?)
- PHOTO BOOTH (72A: Flash point?)
- BARBERSHOP (85A: Style point?)
- DAIRY FARM (89A: Low point?) (because cows low (or "moo"))
- TATTOO PARLOR (111A: Sticking point?)
- GIRL SCOUT CAMP (121A: Brownie point?)
Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda which is located on Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately 36 kilometres (22 mi) southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. The city is the location of Entebbe International Airport, Uganda's largest commercial and military airport, which gained worldwide attention in a 1976 Israeli rescue of 100 hostages kidnapped by the militant group of the PFLP-EO and Revolutionary Cells (RZ) organizations. Entebbe is also the location of State House, the official office and residence of the President of Uganda. (wikipedia)
• • •
With ten themers in this thing, there's not a lot of room for other longer, interesting answers. I guess you've got some 8s in the NE and SW corners, but they're nothing to write home about. Pretty ho-hum grid, overall. The first answer may have been the most original, and I was happy when (after a few seconds' worth of thinking) I came up with the answer that turned out to be right: PEAK TV (1A: The small screen's second Golden Age, informally). I knew "TV" was in there somewhere (no other reason the clue would be using "small screen" unless it was trying to avoid using "TV" ... because it appears in the answer). I don't really know when PEAK TV was, or is (is it? still?). Whoa, wikipedia claims it ended two years ago (2000-23, R.I.P.). And it's weird to call a "second" thing just ... PEAK (and not something signifying, I dunno, second-ness?). But it must be a widely used phrase because it didn't take me that long to come up with it. No surprise, PEAK TV is a debut, and for once, it's a debut I like! There are some other shorter colloquial phrases in this grid that I also like: "IT'S A GO" and "GAME ON!" give the grid some needed oomph. BROMANCE isn't original any more, but it's still strong. I was born in the year of the ROOSTER, and I love a good SOUFFLÉ, so the puzzle wasn't all bad, by any means. It just felt like ... a warm-up. A practice run. Not the main event. A little on the bland side, and a lot on the easy side.
Besides the whole MEETER fiasco, there was one part of the puzzle that required some real effort on my part: the SW. I just don't like the phrase ORDOCS at all (or ERDOCS, for that matter) and today the letters I had in place (--D-CS) suggested MEDICS, so I stuck that in there, and there it sat, for a while. And under that was NOMO!? (97A: Japanese pitcher nicknamed "The Tornado"). Look, I got NOMO fairly easily (bec. I'm a baseball fan), but it still felt pretty obscure, especially without "Hideo" in the clue to make the answer a little more obvious. Still, there haven't been *that* many Japanese pitchers of note, so ... NOMO! I had no idea he had a nickname, or that it was "The Tornado." He pitched two no-hitters, I think ... yes! He was also Rookie of the Year (1995) and twice led the Majors in strikeouts. So, a definite star. But still, bygone, and to non-baseball fans, probably not a meaningful name. Anyway, the real culprit down there was MEDICS—that little error made the SW decidedly tougher than other parts of the grid. But still, not that tough.
Further observations:
- 33A: Scottish regional accents (BURRS) — sincerely wanted this to be BRAES (or "brogues" or something like that). But BRAES are Scottish *hills*. And "brogues" wouldn't fit.
- 60A: What the Mosquirix vaccine targets (MALARIA) — most pharmaceutical names are pure nonsense (Skyrizi? Really?) so it's nice to see that at least some naming entity is on their game (assuming "Mosquirix" is, in fact, meant to evoke mosquitos, the bugs that spread MALARIA).
- 79A: Mary Westmacott, for Agatha Christie (ALIAS) — huh. Was not aware she was ever known by anything except Agatha Christie. But it looks like she wrote six *romantic* novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.
- 75A: Comic who said "One thing about being narrow-minded—you'll never be lonely" (SAHL) — got this off the "L" based on pure crossword reflex (Mort SAHL used to appear in the grid A Lot back in the day)
- 8D: Sound while sticking out one's tongue (AHH) — screwed up the AAH / AHH thing again today. Coincidentally, I was just talking about my childhood dentist today with my sister, Amy, who is in CA cleaning out my parents' garage so they can rent the house. Cleaning out the garage means stumbling over a Lot of family history, including this photo of me and her, which I'd never seen before. See if you can figure out what prompted the "dentist" talk (hint: it's not my toothless smile or my awesome tank top):
 |
| [Me: "Are you wearing a bib? Are you dressed as a nun?"] |
- 61D: Org. with a "Tipsy Tow" service (AAA) — this sounds like a somewhat drunk guy is gonna tow your car and maybe overshare and maybe hit on you? Pass.
- 65D: It's literally "inflated" in the kitchen (SOUFFLÉ) — my mom used to make a great cheese SOUFFLÉ. What I remember is that we couldn't run around while it was in the oven because somehow heavy footsteps could make the SOUFFLÉ collapse. I can't find anything to confirm this fear was real. Was mom just using the SOUFFLÉ as a pretext to get us to shut up and stop running around for half an hour?
- 102D: Suburban setting? (CAR LOT) — the Suburban here is a Chevy Suburban. I had my first kiss in a Chevy Suburban. It was the summer of 1987. This is as much romantic history as I'm ever going to share with you. I know. You're welcome. (Also, hey, Cheryl, wherever you are—hope you're doing well)
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78 comments:
Crusty, boring, lifeless grid. Nothing here to even register a pulse. I don't know why I decide to do the Sundays. Sometimes I hope it will actually be a good one. This felt especially bland after Agard's wonderful puzzle yesterday.
ENTEBBE crossing OBIE was a total guess square for me.
Easy. Very straightforward
Overwrites:
My 1D kisser was a face before it was a PUSS
tsk before tcH before AHH at 8D
coME ON before GAME ON at 13D
ANDERSoN before ANDERSEN at 17D
egad before GASP at 34A
SAl(?) before SAM at 98A
WOEs:
5D TRIPS as clued (not a poker player)
TASHA Smith at 71D
Scott ODELL at 82D
I must have encountered NESTOR (129A) before but I couldn’t pull it out of my brain
Shouldn’t the 92D clue have indicated Abbr.?
Listen - every week needs regression content to trim the mean - today we got it. Thursday - Saturday of near greatness and then this.
PORTIA
Enjoyed it more than most Sundays. Not too difficult once I realized the theme entries were independent of one another. Had "Melania" instead of MELINDA as Bill Gates' ex-wife at first, then realized Melania's married to a different guy. I had the poetic "eres" instead of EVES, so THRIVE was the last brick to fall.
AaH before AAH and meDiCS before eRDOCS before ORDOCS slowed me down in an otherwise straightforward puzzle. But my difficulty coming up with NESTOR is due to my love for the Odyssey (in Emily Wilson’s brilliant translation) and dislike for the Iliad, which even in Wilson’s translation I found unreadable. I’ll take it on faith that in the Iliad Nestor is a wise king, but in the Odyssey he’s a very minor character whose advice is not particularly helpful for Telemachus. Even after I got his name from crosses I had to ponder the story a while before it came back to me.
But it did get me remembering the joy of reading Wilson’s beautiful translation, and for that I’m grateful.
PEAK TV kind of set the tone for this one, and not in a good way. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it - I just felt like “Oh no, it’s going to be one of those days”. Bumping right up to the clue about the academy award from 100 years ago didn’t help - again, the guy had a great career and deserves to be included - but the clue/answer felt like more of the same after 1A.
Similar to OFL, once I discerned the theme I tended to focus on the minutiae like the stack of BURRS, SISI and MEETER and wondered why I was putting myself through all of that for such little payoff. Probably just a wavelength thing today.
Hey Rex - you were a cute kid! What happened ?
In the Oscar winning and beautiful 2024 Brazilian film "I'm Still Here," soufflé is used as a powerful recurring symbol for a family's struggle to hold itself together and find hope, healing, and purpose during the brutal early years of the Brazilian military dictatorship, when "disappearances" were a regular feature, and in the years following . Perfect. It will make you want to try your own hand at making one, if only as an act of hope for wholeness and peace. Streaming on Netflix
Hey Anon 712-- Try the Fagles translation of the Iliad. It is beautiful. Rex, although Emergency Physician is the correct term for those of us who practice Emergency Medicine, I still refer to myself as an ERdoc. Noone I know refers to themself as an ORdoc.
Solved the entire thing without noticing that the theme clues all contained 'point'. Then looked at the title, and only after wondering about it for a while did I finally go back and look at the theme clues and the penny dropped.
I enjoyed this well enough, other than the terrible clue for AHH (which is the correct clue for AAH, not AHH).
Not really sold on Nestor's wisdom. You know how work meetings go longer than they should because of that one guy who loves to hear himself talk who goes on and on about how they used to do things? And everyone else is just anxious to get back to work? That's who Nestor makes me think of.
Jeez Louise, this was an awful puzzle. The last few days have been very solid IMO (especially Thursday), but today was just filled with lame dad jokes* and bad fill. Sundays are supposed to be big, fun puzzles and this one simply failed at that basic assignment.
*I love dad jokes because they're so groan-inducing, but this was something different altogether.
One of those puzzles that seemed large and imposing at first, but then became doable, and finally easy. That is the advantage of a large Sunday grid- you have to struggle to find your entry point, but once you do - you’re off to the races!
tc
MEETER is pretty bad. BURR/DISUSED cross was my last
Saw EAGLES and TRIPS, knew what I was in for, and peaced right out. Sunday is too short to waste on a puzzle this dire.
Why did I mis-remember the TATTOO place being called a TATTOO PALACE instead of a TATTOO PARLOR? I also had a dook-y response to my letters at the Brownie point, seeing GIRLS' COUT CAMP and scratching my head. D'oh. But other than that, an easy, painless solve that was pleasant but hardly exciting. I also agree with Rex that MEETER is pretty bad -- but never would have wasted so many words complaining about it.
It's a GREETER, not a MEETER. And PEAK TV was horrible.
Hey All !
So, apparently I missed the a chunk of the second Golden Age of TV. I have Roku, and I don't get local channels, basic cable, or premium channels anymore. I did have regular cable in the Aughts, and there were some great shows at that time, a bunch on the Sci Fi Channel (which is what they were called before changing to SYFY). Also, Nickelodeon had some funny shows. Oh, and Scrubs, too. So you're saying now that TV shows suck?
That was my last entry, down to _EA_TV, kept trying to make BUSS work for PUSS. Also, the _ITE clue hade scratching the ole head. Is a MITE a Chinese symbol? Finally saw it could be a K for KITE, which got me the before unheard of PEAK TV, and the Happy Music played.
Got ROOSTER in the puz, a point for me for those keeping score. 😁
Agree with Rex about MEETER. I was a Limousine driver here for 14 Years, apparently I was a MEETER quite a bit without realizing it!
Fill not terrible. Of course there's some ese and dreck, nature of puzzledom.
Me in the womb? PRE-VAIL. Har
Well, that ADDUPTO all for me. GOTTA go.
Have a great Sunday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Speaking of SciFi, Changing Times, a novel by me! Search for the title at Amazon or barnesandnoble.com 👍
Peak TV meant nothing to me, and I don’t know puss as a kisser. Huh? Totally failed up there. Not pleasant.
Your write up was so much more entertaining than the puzzle. MEETER was indeed a head scratcher. But OR DOCS is horrible. You know what OR DOCS are called? Surgeons. End of story. I have worked in medicine for decades and never ever heard that them described as OR DOCS Or “Sawbones”. Weirdest clue/answer combo I’ve ever seen. ER docs is more of a thing because they are literally Emergency Medicine Physicians and that’s a more recent board designation (although not super recent, at least since the 1990s.) They used to just be internists who worked in an ER. They do prefer EM docs but that appears to be a tough transition for people. And for that matter, Emergency is a department, not a room, so it’s an ED in medical terminology but again, tough for lay people to get there. Anyhoo, that pic of you and your sister is the best, priceless. 70s perfection.
Yuk. Puns. Nothing very exciting. Re: the souffle question - cookbooks routinely told you not to open the oven or cause any vibrations near the stove so as to avoid having your souffle deflate. Your Mom did not make this up!
Anon 7:12
So you haven’t read The Iliad and your generosity allows you to accept that Nestor is a symbol of wisdom? How magnanimous.
Dr. John,
Why bother with anon 7:12? He’s obviously has some kind of animus.
Have you read A.S. Klein’s translation? I think it’s the best, but if you don’t want to read the whole shebang, just read the opening lines to Book 3. Breathtaking. .
Orcs are not necessarily bad guys in D&D. That is just flat-out wrong.
I think puss and kisser are old-timey terms for mouth/around the mouth punches. Like “I slugged him right in the kisser/puss.” (As opposed to the “breadbasket”?)/gut?)
Essentially a themeless, right? The clues only very loosely connect the "points", while the answers have no connection to one another.
I started this late last night and had trouble finishing it. Got to the last bits this morning, when I was fresher. Didn't help in the middle of the grid when I had DATINGGAME for a long time instead of DATINGSITE.
BTW, I think hemoglobin is red only as oxyhemoglobin. Deoxyhemoglobin is more purple in color.
I read Fagles’ Iliad and Odyssey in college and loved both. I would have said the Iliad was one of my favorite books.
Emily Wilson’s Odyssey is just wonderful. I loved it. But I struggled to finish her Iliad despite liking her language. It occurs to me my college professor had us skip the parts that are just lists of who killed whom, so I didn’t realize how long it actually is.
I struggled with this one. It wasn’t exactly difficult, but most of the clues took me more than one try to get. I never would have thought of “puss,” for example. The theme clues were fine. But most of the puzzle was a slog.
7:12 just said he disliked the translation he TRIED reading of the Iliad and Dr John recommended another. I see no animus other than your scorn of someone’s fairly innocuous observation.
A better title for this one would have been "What's the point?"
Yeah, "ORDOCS" was pretty weak. As for meeter, here's a great example of Shakespeare using the word in a different form: "Meet it is I set it down that one may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
What a nothing puzzle. I did it last night and my two prevailing thoughts were the same as Rex's: "This theme is incredibly lazy and uninspired" and "MEETER?!?!"
Am I the only one who put in Buss which led to BeakTV which is as plausible as PeakTV. Otherwise a slog made a little tougher by vague cluing.
That really confused me. More of a LOTR thing, no?
Meeter? Ugh.
Episcopalians of a certain age will remember saying in church, “It is meet and right so to do.”
To which the priest would respond: “It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, ...”
I don’t know what they say now, I don’t go to church anymore. But I miss the deliberate archaism of the old liturgy.
Pretty dull puzzle. About a third of the way through, I fished out my trusty fountain pen and jotted this note to myself: “Not even half finished and I can already smell the mold”. So many routine gluey answers that I thought I might be solving something from way back when I first started doing these things in about 2007 or ’08. All in the service of a theme light it up for me.
But a couple of answers reminded me of an incident with the first brand spanking new car I ever owned; a 1990 Honda ACCORD (125A). I had spent the day fishing for feisty rainbow trout on the Upper Skagit River and was heading back to Vancouver. The road was eerily empty (it was a mid-weekday afternoon, away from civilization) and I was exceeding the speed limit, doing 120 kmh (about 75 mph) in a 100 kmh (60 mph) zone on a long downhill stretch of new highway when I saw, in my rear-view mirror, a VW van quickly closing the gap on me. I thought they were nuts to driving such a high centre of gravity vehicle at that speed and a bit shocked when they pulled out to pass me (my best guess, 140 kmh or 85 mph). I was even more shocked when one of the yahoos leaned out the passenger side window and aimed an empty beer can at my vehicle. (Can you see a road rage incident shaping up here?)
So I floored it, passed them and watched them recede in my rear view mirror. Then a thought struck me. Up ahead, about 4 or 5 kilometres, was a well-known, to me but maybe not to them, SPEEDTRAP (51A), so I took my foot off the accelerator and let them get the edge. As they passed me again the beer can a**hole gave me the finger and the driver tooted his horn in a a taunting manner and I just kept, as imperceptibly as possible, slowing down. Sure enough, when I rounded the big corner where the cops liked to hang out, right on the speed limit, there was the VW pulled over in the glare of flashing red lights. It was tough to resist tooting my horn.
Did I show good judgment? No, I did not. But keep in mind that “young” and “stupid” go well together and when you sit them both down in the driver's seat of a perfectly functioning new automobile, things like this are bound to happen.
I didn’t comment on Erik Agard’s wonderful puzzle yesterday because it was a travel day. We were returning home from the cabin which meant packing, taking stuff out to the dump and the recycling depot, catching a ferry and driving some highway miles in more traffic than I’ve seen in 2 weeks and I’d like to point out that I did it all at or near the speed limit.
@Colin, 10:43 AM: Me too, with GAME.
Too much irritating junk and bad cluing.
The MEETER point must have been in the CAR LOT.
I judge Sundays by how much the theme makes me cringe.
This was effectively a just a big easy-medium themeless, which is a-ok in my book. Overall a fine, forgettable solve.
Clever theme, nicely executed. I especially like DAIRY farm for "Low point" and SPEED TRAP for "Fine point." The last section to fall for me was the middle east, where I wanted YDS or TDS for the QB stat and didn't know what Supergiant referred to, so it took a while to get ATT and STAR, and after that PHOTO BOOTH and TOP SAIl fell into place (I had tried PHOTO BOARD before). All in all a good puzzle, if not terribly exciting. I've never heard of PEAK TV, still don't really understand that concept....
I liked the puzzle a lot more after finishing and reading Rex's list of the themers. When stacked up together, they seem more fun than the wandering around of the grid that I did today, in random mode. SISTINE CHAPEL as a cardinal point and GIRL SCOUT CAMP as a Brownie point were my favorites though PHOTO BOOTH/flash point is pretty good also.
Yeah, MEETER got a SNEER from me but I enjoyed seeing CONTRITE, WRATH, SOUFFLE, SCARCE, STEALTH, PREVAIL. I agree with Rex on the aptness of the MALARIA vax name. PEAK TV needed every cross though PUSS was known to me, as clued.
Thanks Michael Schlossberg!
A Sunday that wasn't a stumper & I solved it pretty quickly except for DISUSED, PEC CLASS which I finally got (took forever & shouldn't have), NOMO. Bringing up the rear - MOON was great.
Thank you, Michael for a nice Sunday outing without struggling, & having to look for typos :)
BTW Rex, you were a cute kid - I can see you you are now in that face :)
Easy. I ambled through this one with very few hiccups. NW took a wee bit of effort as I was not familiar with PEAKTV and KITE was a WOE. The rest was cake.
Knowing MELINDA was helpful.
Cute breezy Sunday, liked it more than @Rex did.
Slightly amusin puztheme 10-pack. fave themer clue: SPEEDTRAP's. Not so fave clue: GIRLSCOUTCAMP's.
staff weeject pick, of many choices: MAA. Sorta like @Roo when he gets a ROO appearance, M&A kinda appreciates an M And A appearance.
Thanx, Mr. Schlossberg dude. We get the point, already!
Masked & Anonymo5Us
... And now, for the puz trifecta ...
"Leading LORIS Lore" - 7x7 12 min. themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Oops, solving last night I totally forgot to look for the theme. Turns out I didn't miss much! In fact I think it was better that way.
I wonder why they didn't use the clue "Needle point" for TATTOO PARLOR?
I had a couple of typeovers which I changed to pencil color so I would remember them this morning. Unfortunately I can't remember what the heck I had before IRAS for "Future plans". But I do remember having GARAGE for ages for "Suburban setting".
@Les, I liked your SPEED TRAP story. On my grand auto tour of the USA, which lasted 3 months, I had no problems with the law until I got to about 50 miles from Canada on the last day. I was going about 110 km/h in a 60 mph zone (that's speeding just a bit), but got pulled over at about 10 pm. The Washington State Trooper was actually a very nice young woman and just gave me a warning and wished me a safe trip home. Nice!
I still would like to know what peak TV is, but I guess not enough to google for it.
I have a 19th century Polish recipe book where the directions for, not a SOUFFLE but a baba, a rather delicate yeast pastry, say 'Be sure to send the men away before you start (either to a bar or to plant potatoes, I don't remember) or there will be much shouting and stamping of feet and the baba will surely fall.'
My thoughts on the puzzle got spiked, presumably because of the slightly risqué story I developed around @Rex, Cheryl and the Suburban. I guess you all will never know....
surprised at all the hate. I enjoyed sussing out the theme answers. Thought several were quite clever A couple didn't quite work for me. Like Brownies at Girl Scout camp.
Agree that "meeter" was bad. Reading the clue I immediately thought of "greeter". But when it wouldn't fit I had to wait for crosses - and accepted "meeter" with a raised eyebrow.
Yeah, Rex, I've just spent way too much time reading about souffles and I can't find anything concerning the adverse effects of running around in the kitchen. So youi're likely right about your mother just needing a break from her two cute little darlings.
I did find warnings about opening the oven door too often, especially during the early stages. You can check progress later, after it has started to rise, but not too often or for too long. It cools the oven.
Which just goes to show that less IS more (speedwise, anyway)
Yes, very nice! There are some nice police out there and you lucked into one.
I also was looking for something that would tie all the themers together, something relating to the gambling-like term "Ten Point Spread. That didn't happen but there were some solve highlights here and there to keep me entertained.
For 81A "Bring up the rear?" I tried to put in BRAZILIAN BUTT LIFT butt ran out of room.
My tourist level Spanish tells me that question marks and exclamation marks in Español always occur in pairs so 43A SISI should be "¡Absolutamente!", not the one-! version as clued.
REM (91D) isn't a "Kind of cycle at night", as clued. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) is a phase or stage of our sleep cycle. The entire cycle lasts around 90 minutes. REM is also when we typically have dreams so this happens four or five times during a good night's sleep.
No Patrick Berry puzzle in the variety puzzles section of today’s Sunday NY Times magazine. None last week either. What’s going on?
Cheryl!!?? You too? She swore I was the only one.
I had fun with this generous spread (which I took to be a feast) of ten diverse points, especially the SPEED TRAP and GIRL SCOUT CAMP. I thought it was clever and witty, and I give the puzzle bonus points for the play on words in the title. Also enjoyed CONTRITE, PREVAIL and the Italian cross of VENICE and SISTENE CHAPEL.
Agree whole-heartedly about the Aah/AHH thing. I found the whole NW impossible to get into; proceeded to solve all the rest but never got the NW. I wanted the KITE to be "rice"; didn't know about the GRACES; all thoroughly mortifying.
What does the use of the CSN cover signify?
I was thinking "tipsy tow" was a pun on a service that AAA offes for drunk drivers who are too drunk to drive home or who had wrecked their cars - or maybe both. SMH
Have to brag real quick that today marks my first time completing Mon-Sun without checking puzzle or cheating once! All gold! As a relatively new solver, this is a big deal for me. Thanks everyone for giving me a place to be nerdy about crosswords! Can’t wait to get even better!
Count me with the minority who liked this puzzle. No, the theme wasn't frightfully clever and the answers didn't merit ROFL (but the clue for MOON definitely did!). The PPP was all fairly crossed, so no naticks. I'll take a cute theme with an overall solidity any day of the week, and especially on Sundays, where it has become exceedingly rare. Two thumbs up!
agree 100%. awful
Both me "face". That's the connection. Sez me.
Congratulations! In my (longish) life I have only come up with one piece of wisdom, and that is, you can only do something the first time once, so enjoy.
Ugh. About halfway through I just wanted to quit. Just dreary in every way. Rex was too kind. Why is the Sistine Chapel a Cardinal point that’s so weirdly specific. Why is again weirdly specific herb garden a ‘plot’ point. If the ‘point’ is where you find the thing in the clue (IE you find the tips at a cash register, you find lowing on a Dairy Farm) you don’t ‘find’ plots in sn herb garden…it IS a plot. I hated it
Beezer,
He dissed the work. If the translation was wanting, why not learn Greek and judge the work? If that’s too hard, slog through with anyone of the scores of translations to see why Nestor is not only wise in the Iliad but a term now used in English as a synonym for wisdom itself.
Long day with two singing engagements so late to the party. I actually did this one on line and discovered that I could read the numbers, but this still offends my sense of tradition.
Like many, I was thinking MEETER? I bet they want MEETER. Please don't be MEETER, which they did want, but I didn't.
OFL's story about his first kiss made me think of my own. It's a nice story of his but only made me feel my age, since mine was something like 25 years before his. It's always nice to find out that there are other folks closer to my own age who still enjoy crosswords and talking about them. Hello to all of you and thanks for chiming in, makes me feel less all alone.
OK puzz, no real challenges. ABATES for ALLAYS was about the only major slow down. A Sunday that was medium in every way.
If Hideki Nomo married Yoko One, would she be Yoko Ono Nomo?
Thank you! That’s excellent wisdom!
Les S More and Okanaganer.
My experience with speeding tickets is strictly local. The last time I was stopped was at a speed trap I had forgotten about ( I was going 60 on a freeway where the limit dropped from 55 to 45 for no good reason). I had my father in the car as a passenger. He was a WW Ii veteran who lost his right lower arm in WW II and had a hook. as a replacement. When the trooper ( or local cop- I can’t remember) waved me to stop , he had already stopped 2 other cars. He did all the usual things and handed me an envelope. I put the envelope in a drawer and a few days later I opened it up so I could send in the check for the fine. I was puzzled when I couldn’t find the ticket. Did I absentmindedly open it and misplaced it? I eventually realized he saw my father and decided to pretend to give me a ticket as the other drivers hadn’t left yet. One of the strangest experiences I ever had. I was in my late fifties then. He certainly didn’t do that for me. Now in my 70’s nobody stops me. (FWIW I was fortunate enough to take care of my father at home, till just before he died at 101).
My favorite of those has the actress Tuesday Weld marrying Hal March the third, and becoming Tuesday March the third.
I am in the minority. Thought the puzzle was pretty good. The theme actually helped me solve in spots. I did think the title added nothing to the experience. But the themers were good, I thought. I did find the puzzle more difficult than others. I got bogged down towards the end.
One of the last words I got was MOON, partially because in the dead tree edition I had M scribble and I thought it was an A. When I straightened it out I thought it was the best answer.
Came here, searched "meeter," was not disappointed
The mountain sheep are sweeter
But the valley sheep are fatter
And so we found it meeter
To confiscate the latter
That's a lovely story, dgd. I can picture you opening the envelope and being quite flummoxed. I certainly would have been. But you figured it out and it's an affirmation of what we would like to believe about people. Thanks.
He [let's presume "he"] said he didn't like the Iliad, i.e., the story wasn't to his taste. (Not because he suspects Wilson's translation itself is wanting, since he had just praised Wilson's translation of the Odyssey.) That doesn't quite rise to the level of "dissing"; it was indeed an innocuous blog comment. So lighten up, Francis.
On the positive side, at least you named a different translation that he could check out, so there's that.
CSN link 🤌 ....timing had me literally LOLing - definitely best part of the last half hour
This was a good example of why I rarely do the Sunday puzzle, just a long slog. I was on a plane ride so I thought, why not do the Sunday puzzle. Ugh, I hated the cluing, MEETER is heinous, and the theme… no fun.
Peak TV was coined by John Landgraf, CEO of FX cable/streaming on 2015. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/scripted-originals-fall-14-percent-2023-fx-tally-1235821248/
If Olivia Newton John had married John Travolta she would have been known as Olivia Newton John.
Correction. If Olivia Newton John would have married John Travolta, she would be known as Olivia Newton John Travolta.
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