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Relative difficulty: Medium
Word of the Day: Rod CAREW (44D: Eponym of the A.L. batting title award) —
Rodney Cline Carew (born October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman, first baseman and designated hitter from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels. The most accomplished contact hitter in Twins history, he won the 1977 AL Most Valuable Player Award, setting a Twins record with a .388 batting average. Carew appeared in 18 consecutive All-Star Games and led the AL in hits three times, with his 239 hits in 1977 ranking as the 12th most in a season at the time and the 16th most as of 2024, tied with Willie Keeler’s 239 hits from 1897. He won seven AL batting titles, the second most AL batting titles in history behind Ty Cobb, and on July 12, 2016, the AL batting title was renamed to the Rod Carew American League batting title.In 1977, Carew was named the recipient of the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award for his involvement in local community affairs. On August 4, 1985, he became the 16th member of the 3,000 hit club with a single to left field off Frank Viola. His 3,053 hits are 27th all time, and his career batting average of .328 is 34th all time. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 in his first year of eligibility; he appeared on upwards of 90 percent of the ballots. He was also elected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame, Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame, and Angels Hall of Fame. After retiring as a player, Carew served as a coach for the Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers. (wikipedia)
• • •
The cluing felt elevated today, like it was actually trying to be a little tough, a little thinky, and I respect that. I was like "oh, we're pushing back a little today, are we? Nice." I never got stuck, but I did feel like I was slower hacking through the grid than I often am on Fridays, and certainly slower than I've been at any time in the past week or so. Some of that resistance came from phrases I don't know or don't really know and certainly don't use, like DOPE SLAP (right up front!) (1A: Whack to the head, in slang) and SLY BOOTS (also up front) (5D: Shifty type). I think of it more as a "D'oh!" slap, and if I'd use any SLY phrase, it would probably be SLY DOG. The BOOTS version feels very antique, which makes an interesting contrast with much of the rest of the grid, which can lean juvenile. Bathroom stuff (LOO, DOO-DOO) and colloquial expressions (EPICNESS) (43A: Sheer quantity of awesome), although tbh I don't really know what generation "EPICNESS" belongs to. Probably not the currently young one. Feels Millennial. I kinda like its slanginess. Gives the grid character. I could've done without SKIN TAG in my grid (32A: Harmless growth). They're unsightly enough on my damn body, I don't need to be reminded of them in my puzzle. (I just have the one, and the doctor once told me how I could remove it myself, and I was like "nope, not a home surgeon in any way shape or form, thx." TMI, I know, but if the puzzle wants to bring it up, then the puzzle should be prepared to have a conversation about it. Those are the rules.
I am a little ... er ... cautiously, warily curious about what the hell "howcatchem" is doing in the COLUMBO clue (38D: 1970s "howcatchem" TV series), because that really feels like a mocking version of Native American-speak. Maybe it's the "How!" part that's throwing me, but "howcatchem" feels like a very typical mid-20c white person's version of how Native Americans speak English, so I hope that's not it. I've watched a bunch of early COLUMBOs and love them, but I have no memory of this particular phrase. [fires up search engine] OK wow, this phrase is not COLUMBO-specific at all. I'm being told that "howcatchem" is the name for an "Inverted Detective Story." It's the counterpart of a "whodunnit." In the latter, you don't know the perpetrator until the end, when there's a big reveal. In a "howcatchem," you know who the killer (or thief or whatever) is from the very start, and the interest in the story lies thus in figuring out not "whodunnit" but (you guessed it) "howcatchem"—that is, how the detective is going to catch the bad guy. I did not know this category of crime show had a name at all. And I've taught crime fiction for years. I have to say, where "whodunnit" sounds great, "howcatchem" sounds awkward as hell, and I will not be using it. But I'm semi-happy to learn it exists, I suppose. And I'm semi-happy with the puzzle overall. No answers really stood out as winners, but there was an overall solidness and smoothness (if not EPICNESS) that I appreciated.
Bullets:
- 9A: Noted doomsday prepper (NOAH) — I know you're being cute here, but the whole "prepper" phenomenon is something I don't even want to hear about, esp. after one of those "preppers" assassinated MN state rep Melissa Hortman in her home. Am I being unfair to the "prepper community"? Oh well. I'll be sure to try real hard to work on my "heavily armed weirdo extremist" tolerance.
- 18A: Attention magnet, say (CELEB) — this is not really a "say"-appropriate clue. "Perhaps," perhaps. Anyone might be an "attention magnet." CELEB is not another word for "attention magnet." It's a very specific kind of "attention magnet." I think the clue would actually work much better in reverse. [Celeb, say] for ATTENTION MAGNET. Also, even as I type that, I realize that there is no abbr. indicator in the clue for CELEB, and it really feels like there should be.
- 37A: Reduced demand for refrigerated trucking, in a way (ATE LOCAL) — loved this. Wordy, yes, but pointedly environmentalist, in an original way. Also, slightly tough. Approved.
- 49A: Shrub with a "staghorn" variety (SUMAC) — how would I know the "varieties" of SUMAC, I barely know what SUMAC is to begin with. Unless it's YMA SUMAC:
- 8D: Center of a drupe (PIT) — "drupe" is a great word that doesn't get nearly enough crossword love. Speaking of crosswordy words, did you know that SLOE is a drupe? It's true! I learned this while making an episode of my extremely short-lived podcast called "On the Grid" (way back in '17) with my good friend Lena. We did a whole segment on SLOE, which included making a SLOE gin fizz live ("live") on air. Extremely good times (episode 2, here). Anyway, a drupe is just a stonefruit.
- 10D: D8 pieces in Dungeons & Dragons, e.g. (OCTAHEDRA) — eight-sided three-dimensional shapes. "D8" = eight-sided die. Real "8" theme going here today, with the D&D dice and the OCTET of scorpion legs and what not.
- 12D: When squirrels may thermoregulate by splooting (HEAT WAVE) — speaking of HEAT WAVE, we're having one, ugh. Speaking of splooting ... in the grid when???
 |
| [no SPLOOTING or SPLOOTED either] |
- 31D: "Sometimes" has two of them (SILENT "E"s) — not the puzzle's finest hour. The SILENT [letter] is hard enough to take on its own, without its becoming a plural.
- 21A: Deal with The Devil? (TAROT) — because "The Devil" is a card in the TAROT deck (which you "deal" when doing readings)
- 47D: World capital next to the Sarawat Mountains (SANA'A) — this is just crossword muscle. Do enough crosswords, and you'll build up a good store of short world capital names. I'd venture to guess that SANA'A is the most popular (commonly occurring) of all 5-letter world capital names. Although ACCRA, HANOI, SEOUL and CAIRO might also be vying for that title. Let's check! Ooh, it looks like HANOI is way out in front (115 appearances in Modern Era). 38 for SEOUL, 56 for ACCRA, 61 for CAIRO, and just 29 for SANA'A, but SANA'A is a weird one, since it often appears in four-letter form as well. Don't ask me how that's legal, but it is. Anyway, if you add SANA's 47 appearances to SANA'A's 29 ... well, it's still well behind HANOI. All hail HANOI, king of the world capital 5s.
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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Loved this puzzle! Easy for me--13 minutes on a Friday is definitely easy. Loved the interesting grid too. I agree, it's a bit segmented. Loved the clue/answer for ATELOCAL--took a while for me to figure that one out, but it was worth it. Thank you, Fritz, for a perfect Friday morning workout!!!! : )
ReplyDeleteOdd to call out the sort of racist sounding “howcatchem”, which is just a play on “whodunnit” but to omit “no can do”, a phrase with actual racist etymology
ReplyDeleteHad no idea about that phrase. Thanks for this post!
DeleteYes, the first thing in think of when I hear that is “gosh, how racist”. WTH.
DeleteAgreed, along with “long time no see”. This should never have made it in the puzzle.
DeleteI can’t go for that (no can do).
DeleteParis, at 54 modern-era entries (excluding variety puzzles), is up there, too.
ReplyDeleteGiven the 8 black square Ts, OCTET and, more stretchily, OCTAHEDRA could also have been part of the non-theme.
I liked this puzzle. While I agree with Rex that TEETOTAL didn't fully land, the Ts made for an interesting and fresh-feeling grid shape. Major props to the clue on TAROT!
Good point, also "eight" local?
DeleteAgree with the big guy - why even add the mini theme here - it doesn’t add anything and probably forced some of the awkward fill. Liked STUDY DATE, ATE LOCAL and POLAR BEARS - those were top notch. The DOPE SLAP x SLY BOOTS, OCTAHEDRA (especially paired with OCTET) and DIAL SOAP were not.
ReplyDeleteThe LATE SHOW
Same feeling on SKIN TAG. Was thinking COLUMBO all along given the 70s clue. Took a minute to parse REGNANT.
Pleasant enough Friday morning solve.
Uncle Tupelo
Love the fresh vocabulary in this puzzle. Sploot made me laugh; and howcatchem was just cool, almost as cool as Columbo himself.
ReplyDeleteLike Rick, I loved this. A bit easy for a Friday, but so what?
ReplyDeleteTwo nits to pick with Rex. “Howdunit” is not racist; it’s a clever way to explain “police procedural,” a genre I read often. And I don’t agree that the revealer “has nothing to do with the solving experience.” It makes perfect sense.
I appreciated TEETOTAL as it opened up the south for me on this medium challenging puzzle. When the reveal helps in the solve, that's a win. Tough cluing, lots of unfamiliar words (drupe, slyboots, howcatchum and more) made for a fun workout at a satisfying victory. Actually I Naticked at the D in Doo and ALDI, I had a T instead for TOO TOO. Oh well, great puzzle!
ReplyDeleteThis was tough for me -- took 10 minutes longer than my average Friday. Knowing nothing about baseball ( and having two correct crosses there) I had AARON at 44d for far too long.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever find yourself staring at a correct answer, usually filled in with crosses, and wondering what the heck that word means? When this happens to me, it’s often a two-word phrase that I’m misreading as one (nonexistent) word. Today I had -MENT filled in for 52A and no idea how to finish it. The crosses gave me AHAMOMENT, which I tried to make sound like “condiment” or “sentiment” or some such, but no dice. Then I thought it might be that thing when you’re obsessed with a white whale, but no, that would be an AHAbMOMENT.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteEasy-Medium. I picked up on "howcatchem" as a counterpart to "whodunit" and a while back I ran across another one, where the mystery is the perpetrator's motive: the "whydunit."
Overwrites:
13A: I CAn sEe IT before I CALLED IT
14D: Wanted mEgA(something) before TERABYTE
19A: REGNAte before REGNANT
40D: enter before ANNAL
WOEs:
ENGEL at 56A - My German is even rustier than my Spanish, French ... and English
@Conrad: one of the best "whydunit" series I've seen was the Canadian police drama "Motive". In each episode, they would alternate between the police investigation and flashbacks to the crime itself. Only at the very end would they show the "why", hence the title.
DeleteI always though Wordle in five was a double-bogey.
ReplyDeletePOLAR BEAR clue is definitely a 'trying to hard' clue that falls flat.
Surprised OCTahedron and OCTet were allowed.
Kitshef
DeleteFWIW
Shortz has no rule against dupes
so they are certainly allowed.
Rex has given up complaining about dupes unless they are “egregious”(his word)
Personally, I see nothing wrong with them.
So grateful for the tougher clueing - felt more like a Friday level puzzle than Friday puzzles have felt in a while. I hope it continues.
ReplyDeleteNeeded several cheats to finish. Queen Elizabeth is not REGNANT...she died, which is how Camilla became queen (consort). You can't reign from the grave. Terrible clue.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of a DOPESLAP or a STUDYDATE, and never played Dungeons and Dragons. I think my grandchildren would solve this one faster than I did.
Why do you assume Queen Regnant can only refer to the living? Both of the Queen Elizabeths were Queen Regnant.
DeleteRegnant does not mean "who is now reigning" . It is an adjective meaning a reigning queen - a queen in her own right, not because she married a king. Queen Regnant is a title. A Queen Consort is the wife of a king who actually gives her the title of queen. Because Camilla was a divorcee, there was some doubt early in the marriage if she would be given the title.
DeleteAm I the only one for whom GOODSORT seems off? I’ve heard of a good sport. And a good soul. But “good sort” sounds only like some sort of compliment offered for unimpeachable laundry prep.
ReplyDeleteOddly, until I read your comment, I had thought the entry was, indeed, GOOD SpORT. I had a couple of crosses, started to write it in, and stopped when all the blanks were filled, not noticing that it was too short. That said, though, GOOD SORT is an expression I've heard fairly often.
DeleteWORDLE SPOLIER ALERT: The NYT is just pouring salt in my wounds as my 160 day streak was broken today. I would like to take all the terrible 5 letter "words" like gofer, admin, inbox, etc and send them out to the ocean on a kayak, canoe, yacht or barge to never come back
ReplyDeleteSo you made a triple BOGEY. Happens to everyone. Deal with it.
DeleteI feel your pain! My streak was broken the other day. I was only missing the first letter and after FOUR attempts I failed. grrrrr
DeleteModerators. The post above needs to be removed.
DeleteOslo. I think Oslo is the world capital seen most often in a grid.
ReplyDeleteI didn't care for E-MEET.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same as Rex overall, slower than recent Fridays with no major roadblocks. I struggled most with CELEB and TAROT, partly because my [Stole] was a noun (ROBE) "confirmed" by the crossing LOO. Also, there's the OCTET/OCTAD kealoa.
ReplyDeleteSurely there are words with SILENT A'S, maybe not two in one word, but I could've done without the SILENT_ "trick" crossing ENGEL. Also in the "cluing tricks I don't like" department: NOUNS. Just stop it. Give me more fresh clue ideas like the clue on ATE LOCAL.
So here you are, making a puzzle, and you have to come up with a clue for HEAT WAVE. Who out there, I ask you, would have come up with the magnificent [When squirrels may thermoregulate by splooting]?
ReplyDeleteThis was presaged by the grid of tees itself, which for me, even before filling in the first letter, turned my head and sent the message that this puzzle was made by a constructor with moxie, confidence, and ability.
Speaking of ability, this is a 66-worder, and look how cleanly it is filled in!
Speaking of magnificent out-of-the-box clues:
[How one lives in the face of an inscrutable future]
[Org. that may allow religious headwear in pictures]
[Reduced demand for refrigerated trucking, in a way].
I like the “eight” mini-theme, with OCTET, OCTAHEDRA, and the eight black-square tees. I also like that TOOK backward rhymes with “sploot”.
I’m delighted by this new Crosslandia voice that made a puzzle pulsing with personality, which promises sweet solves ahead.
Congratulations, Fritz, on your NYT debut. You’ve entered with a refreshing splash, and thank you for a splendid outing!
Yay Lewis - this puzzle is clever and enjoyable. Sploot indeed!
DeleteI just learned the word “sploot” last weekend when my daughter-in-law described my miniature schnauzer grand dog’s position.
DeleteSome trouble to be had in the NE with the Dungeons & Dragons clue and the splooting squirrels. REGNANT was new to me as well, and without the two long downs, NOAH wasn’t obvious either.
ReplyDeleteNothing but little nits here and there today - GOOD SORT seems a little green paint-ish and I wonder how many people say SLY BOOTS. The clue for POLAR BEAR seemed like a swing and a miss as well.
I learned post-solve that DOPE SLAP apparently originated (or at least increased in popularity) from the show Car Talk (a show that is very popular, though for the life of me I can’t figure out why).
Car Talk is both hilarious and informative.
DeleteSouthside Johnny
DeleteCar Talk started as a local show in the Boston MA area (I live in adjacent Rhode Island)and I listened to the two brothers for years. Their relationship was easy going and never nasty. Inevitably they had certain repeated phrases that became associated with them. Dopeslap From what I remember it was used to mean oops I was stupid. Like saying duh about yourself.
Occasionally the actual car talk was interesting but I mostly listened because I liked the brothers, their stories etc and the often interesting people who called in. They both retired after one of them got sick (he subsequently died). Hence no new shows for years. (Maybe 20 years ago?). The show was repackaged as the Best of Car Talk. I stopped listening by the time they retired as I don’t like reruns. But I found the live show much more enjoyable than NPR news which even then I found depressing.
Chewy one here. Got pieces here and there, but no real flow. Had to get a lot of letters from crosses before the longer ones became evident, but that all worked out eventually and made for an interesting solve.
ReplyDeleteTech stuff will always be mysterious, although CTRL and EMEET should have been a little more obvious. I've seen SANAA but didn't know where it was and I never remember ALDI. BOGEY as clued? OK. Wanted GOODSPORT, which didn't fit, but it did lead to GOODSORT. AHAMOMENT.
I did know SLYBOOTS. Benefits of age.
Nice Friday, FJ. For Just a moment I thought I would resort to Google, but no. Thanks for all the fun.
And now, appropriately enough, we're off to the DMV.
pabloinnh
DeleteSurprised you didn’t mention an “old friend “. ARLO.
Haven’t seen him in a while The clue was on the hard side befitting a Friday. But after thinking a bit I realized it had to be him. AHAMOMENT and all.
My city has several ALDI’s, one only a mile away so that is a gimme for me
We've got a bunch of staghorn sumacs in our side yard. Started with one two years ago, and if you ever want something that self-replicates, get these. They're pretty awesome trees to look at, actually.
ReplyDeleteSLY BOOTS was the only fill here that made me go "wtf?" Literally never have seen that phrase.
Howcatchems are having a moment, thanks to Elspeth and Poker Face, but I've also heard "reverse whodunit," and I like that better.
Very easy on the whole. The constructor seemed a bit of a try-hard at times, but I enjoyed most of the cluing.
ReplyDeleteGenerally appreciated the challenge in some of the cluing. And overall enjoyed this puzzle. When I step back though I’m like whoa - the 19somethings called they want their puzzle back. COLUMBO, TEETOATLER, ARLO, Wierd Al clues, etc. I guess somewhat offset by DOPESLAP and EPICNESS. Never heard of the phrase SLYBOOTS.
ReplyDeleteI am eagerly anticipating the return of gallimaufry and the like. 1990s era cluing on a Friday or Saturday could be brutal.
DeleteFun fact: in Arabic Sana'a has five letters: S, N, ' (extremely hard letter for native English speakers to pronounce articulated way down the throat), A, glottal stop
ReplyDeleteI didn’t get the Deep DOO DOO clue until I just wrote it out here and I kinda love it? Although thattook me the longest of the whole puzzle since I didn’t know ALDI either. I guess I’m just not juvenile enough or maybe I curse too much since I would just say the Non NYT friendly version of it. I liked the level of clueing, not the repeat of Octa though, that threw me I thought it had to be something else! And I learned REGNANT, which I had but didn’t know it was a word! Fun one. And getting those SKIN TAGS removed is very easy, just ask your neighborhood dermatologist!
ReplyDeleteDOPE SLAP! I am so dumb! Could not finish the NE, and it's my own fault. If only I could have found the word for Queen Elizabeth when I had REG. I was thinking Elizabeth REGINA, so I wrote in REGINAL. I didn't think it was a word, but desperate people do desperate things. REGNANT -- of course! DOPE SLAP!
ReplyDeleteThe only doomsday preppers I could think of were SURVIVALISTS. I couldn't get ACT NATURAL out of my head, even when it wouldn't fit. I was thinking of the TSA not the DMV for the ones who allow the religious headgear. I didn't understand a word in the squirrel clue and refused to look it up. Of course I don't know anything about the D8 pieces in D&D. And NOUNS was really cleverly concealed.
I had all the AHA MOMENTS I needed everywhere else. And despite the EPICNESS of my failure today, I loved, loved, loved this puzzle!
Nancy, you perfectly described my problems in Northeast. I couldn’t get Regina out of my head.
DeleteA nice Friday which I enjoyed solving and which enhanced my vocabulary, always a feature I appreciate in a crossword. It was bonus day for learning new expressions: REGNANT, DOPE SLAP, SLY BOOTS, howcatchem and - my favorite - sploot. In each case, although familiar with what it means, I didn’t know that particular expression to describe it. So thanks for the mini word clinic Fritz Juhnke, and congratulations on your NYT debut.
ReplyDeleteAs for the whole “T” concept, I agree with RP that it seemed a little superfluous. Yes there are shapes in the grid and yes, that’s what TEETOTAL means but the puzzle is fine without trying to connect the two. Seems like there might be a good idea there for a full theme concept though.
I went brain dead last night. I had ATEL?CAL, having cheated to get the L from ALDI -- we don't have them out here, and still didn't see ATELOCAL. Two words! That defeated me.
ReplyDeleteEven if I had solved it clean, I wouldn't have liked it. EPICNESS. TEETOTAL. DOO.
I've been learning about cryptic xwords so I happily dropped in 'saw' for 'was up'. oops.
ReplyDeletedidn't like skintag at all (apparently neither does autocorrect)
til that teetotal is not teatotal which I always assumed because they were drinking tea instead of alcohol.
Meredith
DeleteFor years I also thought it was Tea etc. then I happened upon an article about the origin of the term. So I had my own dope slap. I believe the origin of the term is that prohibitionists in the 19th Century would say they were for total prohibition of alcohol. T as in total Teetotalers.
I'm with Rex on the (non)theme and I liked his write-up over all. Thought he might have something to say about REGNANT. I don't recall ever seeing this word in a puzzle or anywhere else.
ReplyDelete@Bob Mills (7:17). I found this explanation for REGNANT.
1.
reigning; ruling.
"a queen regnant"
2.
formal
currently having the greatest influence; dominant.
"the regnant belief"
So QE was dominant and QC is not.
My favorite puzzle of all time sort of had that "full theme concept/good idea." But not exactly. It did utilize a lot of "T"s though, and had one really big T in the grid design. I imagine you probably did the puzzle back in the day, @Whatsername, but do you remember it? March 8, 2015 by Tom McCoy.
ReplyDeleteThe comment above should have been attached to @Whatsername's 9:24 comment.
DeleteThat did not sound familiar to me so I went to the Archives and discovered it was a Sunday - which I would've skipped since I normally don't do Sunday unless it's by my favorite constructor, a certain Manhattan maven we all know and love. ;-) But since you recommend it so highly, I've printed a copy and will give it a whirl. It'll be a nice challenge and good excuse to stay in out of this oppressive heat.
DeleteThe puzzle has an octet of octahedra - the Tee shapes have eight sides.
ReplyDeleteNormally an octahedron refers not to a planar figure, but to one of the Platonic solids. For example, one of those 8-sided dice used in D&D.
DeleteOctahedron is 3d, not 2d.
DeleteThank you! I figured that the two OCT- answers had to be TEETOTAL related, but didn't know about the T shapes.
DeleteTo have OCTET and OCTAHEDRA in the same grid is a no-no for me. Too much of a dupe.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteNeat Blocker pattern. Gets you 40 Blockers, but yet doesn't feel like it's that many. Still allowing for a Themeless with longer answers. I'm gonna try to make one out of F's. Har.
Is E MEET something? Let's get COLUMBO on the case.
Had minK for TOOK (22D Stole) thinking how clever I was. Same area, had DAYbyDAY first.
LATESHOW was an Ugh, as the clue said "time of day" as if it was asking for an actual time, like NOON or something. Intentionally misleading in a not proper way, if that makes sense. As in "LATE" is not a specific time.
Overall on the tougher side here, but managed to finish error free.
Have a great Friday!
No F's - My goodness, this week was how I got started on my F crusade. Underrepresented for a common letter.
RooMonster
DarrinV
A "d'oh slap" would be self-administered, the heel of the hand to the forehead or temple. A "dope slap" is an open-handed upward hit to the back of the head as a reprimand for saying something stupid, usually by a parent to a child or a gang boss to a minion.
ReplyDeletewe call that a Gibbs slap in my house. (ncis)
DeleteI've just been getting more into the crossword, and I must ask what's the site being used to check clue/word frequency in the crossword? I couldn't find any up to date data sets, although this is probably down to my not looking in the right places.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSorry I messed up the link. The site is xwordinfo dot com.
DeleteThe site is xwordinfo.com. It's an amazing, astounding really, wealth of information on all things crossword, including every NYTXW puzzle since the first one. I subscribe---$20 a year---and it is well worth it.
DeleteI feel the "revealer" clue would have been more appropriate if it had been "Eight....or a hint to the puzzle's black squares"
ReplyDeleteSomething to do with the “eighties”.
DeleteA real faith-solve for me in both the NW and NE. STUDY DATE provided the key breakthrough. With my theatre background, I had "rehearsal" (a brush-up rehearsal is a run-through after a few days off).
ReplyDeleteNever heard of a staghorn SUMAC, but in my Florida days, a good friend asked me to adopt his giant staghorn ferns. They hung from an oak tree outside the kitchen window, and before long became known as "Foghorn" and "Leghorn."
On my first pass through this puzzle, I had that sinking feeling of, Uh oh, this may be one I can't make heads or tails of. It just didn't seem to be in my wheelhouse at all. So, I feel good that through that very deliberate process of chip-chip-chipping away at each section, I did get it, in just under an hour, which is about normal for a Saturday for me. Some phrases were unknown to me, such as DOPESLAP, DISC, and SLY BOOTS...and thank goodness for the crosses or I never would have gotten OCTAHEDRA. Some clues seemed awkaward, such as "One that can put a meal on ice" (POLAR BEAR—how does the bear "put" a meal on ice?). "Occasion to brush up" (STUDY DATE) was clever, and so was "Deal with The Devil" (TAROT). LOO didn't seem right for "Brit's bog," though; I thought "bog" meant toilet paper, not bathroom (LOO)...? I had ALL before ERA, and I always want to spell BOCCE with an I instead of an E, so those held me up for a bit in the NW. But all in all, there's a feeling of satisfaction for finishing this one!
ReplyDeleteSame re: BOCCE. Saw it today, thought "Oh, I just messed up this spelling a few puzzles ago, so this time I shall prevail!" Confidently put in BOCCI and then couldn't figure out the HIA- situation for those poor splooted squirrels for several minutes.
DeleteYes, exactly!
DeleteToilet paper is bog roll in Britain. That is a roll of paper for the bog.
Delete@JT, Bog is the bathroom, toilet paper is the roll in the bathroom. Some Brits call it the bog roll.
DeleteWhat a fun puzzle! Great words, like REGNANT and SPLOOT (the latter was previously unknown to me, but fun to learn)! Parts of speech! Letters! Both OCTET and OCTOHEDRAL, particularly fun for this non-ELDERLY octogenarian! Ridiculously elaborate clues like "illicit decampment!" Ridiculously obscure geography, like "next to the Sarawat Mountains," so fairly crossed that I never saw the clue while solving. Political topicality with the LATE SHOW! Another made-up word, "howcatchem"! What EPICNESS!
ReplyDeleteBOCCE took a cross--I couldn't wrest my mind away from tennis, pickleball, volleyball, and other over-the-net sports, but the veil fell from my eyes with that first C.
Let's have more like this!
A mixed bag for me. Some excellent entries -- DOPESLAP, ICALLEDIT, ACTNORMAL, OCTAHEDRA, ATELOCAL, AHAMOMENT, SKINTAG -- unfortunately overshadowed by a very choppy grid resulting from sorta-themed grid art.
ReplyDeleteOddly, the best word in this entire puzzle isn't even in the grid. I refer of course to "sploot", which is such a funny word that I will probably go down a rabbit hole to understand its etymology. (At least I assume it's a word; it gets the red-squiggle underline when I type it.) My dog's summer routine: sit in the sun for 15 minutes, come inside and sploot on the cold tile for 10 minutes, repeat at least 10 times daily.
@Nancy -- Your "REGinal" comment made me laugh harder than anything I've read here in quite a while. Thank you!
This was meh for me. Is EPICNESS a word? SPLOOT, DRUPE, SLY BOOTS, OCTAHEDRA (makes sense when looking harder). Got the Ts right away but this was just an ok Friday for me. Also the clue for Columbo?? I loved Columbo but I thought the clue was weird :(
ReplyDeleteOn the tough side for me with the bottom half a tad easier than the top.
ReplyDeleteI did not know LOO, SUMAC, and DISC (as clued). Plus, DOPE SLAP and SLY BOOTS did not come easily (Hi @Rex). I also did not know that a drupe was a fruit.
Solid and reasonably smooth with bit of sparkle, liked it.
“Elsbeth” is a howcatchem.
jae
DeleteFWIW LOO ( informal Brit.). is a very convenient word for constructors. It has shown up often in the Times crosswords. And it will show up again so it would pay to remember it
I love sumac. There are poisonous and non poisonous varieties, but any sumac for purchase would be the edible kind. It is routinely eaten in the Middle East and surrounding areas.
ReplyDeleteI've been told cashews are the fruit of a sumac
Delete@Greater Fall River Committee for Peace & Justice - different genera within the same family (Anacardiaceae). Some people call that the 'sumac family', so saying cashews are sumac fruits is defensible. But some people call that family the 'cashew family', so you could equally say sumacs are the fruits of cashews.
DeleteAnd then there is poison sumac, which is in yet a third genus, still in that same family. That genus (Toxicodendron) also includes poison ivy and poison oak, so you could also say poison ivy is a cashew -- or a sumac.
Not exactly a Rexian whoosh-whoosh job - I stumbled about rather than whooshing - but fun. My first entry was at 9A NOAH, which I thought was cleverly clued and I thought, “Oh, this looks good. I might like this one.” And I did. Took me a while to get REGNANT at 19A but when it landed I thought, “Yeah, that’s a proper Friday answer.”
ReplyDeleteWas a little disappointed with 28D ATOMICAGE because I was looking for something to do with Cold War and tried ATOMICwar before the correct answer. Not a big problem because I’m always happy to remember one of my favourite movies.
42A DOO made me chuckle because it’s the sort of thing I might have said to one of my kids when I was in no position to use my favoured term. (“Doo doo, Dad, really, deep doo doo. What, are we back in the fifties now?” “You know exactly what the f**k I mean. Go to your room.”)
I was such a good parent.
Speaking of parents, 5D SLYBOOTS is something I think even my parents (and I’m in my 70s) would have considered “olden”.
Please, Fritz, Will and gang, don’t ever feed me 46D EMEET again. It tastes foul. But still a fun puzzle, a point just brought home to me by remembering the great clue for the tired old LAM at 39A (Illicit decampment).
I’m just rambling now but I’m enjoying the music that I accidentally discovered on my old iPod and I want to finish listening to it. I remember purchasing the CD while waiting for my latte at Starbuck’s many years ago. It’s a compilation called Jazz a Saint Germain and it is just perfect for a warm summer evening. Angelique Kidjo. China, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Francoise Hardy (with Iggy Pop!), The Jazz Passengers with Debbie Harry, Les Nubians, Jane Birkin (yes, I think she of purse and Blow-Up fame), and others. Just offbeat French jazz vocals. The album art is a portrait of a rather dissolute blonde with a Gauloises slung from her lips. Just perfect.
BTW, I might have bought the CD just for the cover art. Might have been smoking Gauloises or Gitanes at the time and reading Richard Klein's "Cigarettes Are Sublime", a fascinating book full of literary and philosophical references to smoking. If you are a smoker or former smoker you might want to look it up.
DeleteNote: Robyn W. has a puzzle on the People website today (granted, a total waste of her talents - but they probably pay more than Shortz does). Being a People Puz, it is loaded with proper names and popular culture.
ReplyDeleteIt took me a bit of effort since I basically conceded half the grid, but I’m guessing most everyone here could slice through it like the proverbial hot knife v.v. butter. Hopefully she’ll stop by for a visit soon.
https://people.com/people-puzzler-crossword-july-25-2025-11777642
Thanks for this; it was fun, though because of some unknown names it wasn't quite a breezy Monday!
DeleteI don't think anyone pays more for xword puzzles than the NYT. For example, The LA Times pays $125 for a 15X15 while the NY Times $500 for a constructor's first three or puzzles and $750 per 15X15 after that.
Delete66-worder mini-themed FriPuz ... Different! Like.
ReplyDeleteFeisty solvequest. Not a lotta total no-knows, and only 3 ?-marker clues, but still hardish, somehow. But, hey -- M&A even had trouble spellin BOCCE, soooo ... probably mostly all on m&e.
staff weeject pick: DOO. Doubly deep stuff.
fave stuff included: TAROT & NOAH clues. OUTTA. HEATWAVE splootiness. AHAMOMENT & clue. POLARBEAR & clue. TEETOTAL, as clued & illustrated.
Thanx for the fun and occasional sufferin, Mr. Juhnke dude. Congratz on a memorable debut.
Masked & Anonymo3Us
... and now: No T-zing involved, in this pup ...
**gruntz**
M&A
Challenging for me, and rewarding to finish. I needed to do a lot of grid roaming before I got some traction....and then lost it again. Buoying my spirits along the way: REGNANT, SLY BOOTS, ATE LOCAL, TERABYTE from the B, and HEAT WAVE, because it recalled to mind the hot afternoon I looked out a second-floor window of our house to see a squirrel splooted (not that I knew the word then) over a branch of our big cedar tree. The only time I can recall seeing a squirrel absolutely motionless.
ReplyDeleteHelp from previous puzzles: PAULA, ACT NORMAL, SANAA. Help from the memory junk drawer: SUMAC, CAREW. Fifty percent success rate on the gotcha clues for NOUNS (got it from the U) and SILENT ES (had the SIL...and no AHA MOMENT).
Many on this blog never miss a day doing the crossword, but I've had some gaps in my solving history. We already know the current HEAT WAVE across the country is great for splooting, and it also seems a good time to catch up on puzzles I've missed, such as the one on March 8, 2015 which @Nancy recommends as her all-time favorite . My personal favorite is April 28, 2016 and one I've kept taped to the door of my computer armoire for 9 years now. I'd love to hear from others with recommendations from the past. WHAT'S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE CROSSWORD?
ReplyDelete@Whatsername 11:52 - June 19, 2016. If you can print in color, I recommend it for this puzzle.
DeleteHonorable mention - the week of October 17-21, 2011 was a week of Patrick Berry puzzles ending with a meta puzzle.
A favorite that I did only recently (from the archives) is July 25, 2013.
Delete@Whatsername -- Since I have a newspaper subscription and not a digital one, the NYT doesn't let me dip into its archive for a fresh version of an old puzzle without answers. Sigh. But what I can do is go to the Rexblog of that day and see if I liked the puzzle. I've cut and pasted what I said at the time about your puzzle of 4/28/16.
Delete"OMG -- Is this a great puzzle or what?! It took me from thinking I was absolutely losing my everloving mind to thinking I was one of the smartest people in the world for solving it. As I realized that CLAUDE Monet was not going to work at 11D, I started shouting at the puzzle: "His first name is CLAUDE, you stupid cretin! Don't you dare tell me it's anything else!" Now, I might have had this reaction earlier, at JABBA and AURIC, except I don't know JABBA and AURIC. (These pop culture clues in the NW made the puzzle even harder for even longer.) I knew there was a trick, but I wasn't exactly sure what it was. But I had ----MAN at 38A and I knew EASTMAN was involved with film and cameras, and I saw the EAST and the arrow, and I said "Aha!" WEST END (reversed) followed, and the north- and south-arrowed clues came next. I got a bit dizzy trying to remember which answers reversed and which didn't, but things got clearer and clearer and my solving got faster and faster as I went along. Just wonderful! I'll remember this one."
Only I didn't, of course. I remember nothing. I'll go back now and see what I said about @Kitshef's fave. I'm not sure I was on this blog in 7/13. but I'll check.
And here's what I said, @kitshef, about the June 19, 2016 puzzle. I had no Internet service on that day thanks to Verizon, and @Hartley was kind enough to post my comment for me. Which, I imagine, is why it's so short:
Delete""I adored today's puzzle. I thought it was extremely clever. I was tempted to cheat it was so hard, but I couldn't cheat because I can't get to the blog to look at the answers. I really, really liked it and I miss everybody and can't wait to get back eventually."
@kitshef and @JT: Both of yours fell within the one of the gaps I referred to, and I would not have done them at the time. So they’ll be brand new and fun to tackle. Thanks for responding.
Delete@Nancy: You were right about the “dizzying” factor of that puzzle. But the effort was so worth it. I’m glad you liked it too.
@Nancy inspired me to go back and look at my comments from that same puzzle. An excerpt:
Delete"I suspect the split on this one will come with speed solvers and online solvers going 'ugh', but recreational solvers and paper solvers enjoying it. I was in the latter camp, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Do I want ENO, ELOI, ARIL, ASLOPE AND ELEM in my puzzle? No. But I'll certainly take it for both a fun and clever gimmick, plus good stuff like AURIC, ROGETS THESAURUS, ERGONOMIC, WESTEND, EASTMAN, PIQUE, TURNSTILE, WHITESALE, PUPAE, ETHYL, STEGOSAUR, WITT, SALIVATE, and CLAUDE. Some full weeks go by when we don't get that many good words.
Posting before reading other comments, ala Nancy, so sorry for dupe opinions. Just got back from a month on the other side of the world. Somehow flew for 22 hours with 2 layovers and arrived home on the same day. I thought my xword brain was out of sorts due to very strange jet lag, but nice to see that the difficulty was ramped up (enough excuses for 15minutes over my normal?).
ReplyDeleteI didn’t know howcatchem, but just finished the excellent Poker Face second season last night. I really love the format where the murder is set up for 20 minutes before the star appears, then you watch a lot of it from another point of view. Reviews frequently point back to Columbia.
First time I got a skin tag, I was very happy to find out it was harmless, and have it frozen off. Let the conversation continue…
I tried to google for the prepper, and got nowhere near NOAH, no matter how much I added “fictional” or “traditional” to the query. I got Howard Hughes confused with Hugh Hefner, knowing the former was a recluse - perhaps for prepper reasons??? Did I mention jet lag?
I immediately thought of Rod CAREW, but thought the title must surely be named after someone from a much earlier era. Rex’s write-up shows it was changed in 2016, (presumably for Ty Cobb and his unacceptable character traits).
Poison SUMAC and the tree are the ones I am familiar with, but wouldn’t recognize if I passed them on Park Avenue. Apparently they disguise themselves as bushes or shrubs, topping out at 10-15 feet.
With RE in place, I confidently put down REDHEAD for QE2, REGNANT eventually replaced it. Recent comment involving POKERFACE was mine, having been somehow signed out…
ReplyDeletePerspective : I do puzzles for fun. I like to do well but I don't care about times or streaks. I have enough stress in my life. Har!
ReplyDeletePrevious comment went into the ether.
ReplyDeleteJust got back from Asia with 19 hours of flying and a 6 hour layover somehow leading to arriving on the same day. I assumed my 15 minutes over normal was my disorienting jet lag, but see that Rex had it down as Medium, which of course means challenging:)
Inre howcatchem: I just finished the excellent 2nd season finale of POKERFACE, which follows the Columbo format. It is a lot of fun to watch for 20 minutes and a murder, then have the lead show up and start to solve, replaying many of the same scenes from a different angle. Very clever smart writing.
I knew SUMAC as the poisonous plant, or a tree, though just now read that the tree, the shrub and bush are one and the same, growing to 10-15 feet.
Like others, I thought this was tough but fair and a lot of fun to figure out. As much of a boost to confidence as it is to race through a Friday or Saturday, having a proper puzzle to figure out is more rewarding, time be damned. Plus, SPLOOT!
I found this much harder than Rex did. Not in my wheelhouse I guess. I’ve never heard the term REGNANT, and wanted ‘regent’ there but of course it doesn’t fit. Combine that with a specific type of piece in Dungeons and Dragons π and DOPESLAP, which I don’t know because I’m ELDERLY. I’ve also never heard “howcatchem” although COLUMBO was a favorite visitor in our house growing up, and agree that it’s a dreadful racist-sounding term.
ReplyDeleteReally disliked this one, what with the DOPESLAP, EPICNESS, SLYBOOTS, EMEET, the CELEB clue lacking the required indicator.
ReplyDeleteLATE is not a time of day. Nine is a time of day, as is noon.
How many *AEs do we need? You forgot BAE, FAE, JAE, KAE, LAE, NAE and TAE.
AE-AE-AE-AE-AE! Please abstain from that -and also theming a themeless.
Looking back over the grid and having read the comments, I wonder if this puzzle wasn't originally conceived as a themed puzzle based on the number 8 that got a makeover by the editors. Whatever. It was excellent.
ReplyDeleteA woman called up Car Talk years ago, and asked Tom and Ray about a situation involving her car. She explained what she thought the problem was and said that her husband disagreed. Then she asked: So am I right, or do I deserve a great big dope slap? And Ray said: "Brace yourself."
ReplyDeleteI finished with an error at square 42. I've never heard of ALDI, so I guessed something else at that D... it was last evening so I forget what my guess was.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I'm a huge COLUMBO fan and I have heard of the term "howzegonnacatchem" for that type of plot.
Weird to see OCTET and OCTAHEDRA up there like twin pillars.
No recent sustained HEAT WAVEs up here in British Columbia, but we did officially hit 39 C (102 F) two Sundays ago which could be our high for the summer if this mixed weather continues.
"I finished with an error at square 42." Same here. Never heard of ALDI that I can recall. Apparently they've been expanding rapidly in the US, but haven't yet reached the NW states where I live, nor Canada, as far as I can tell. They are apparently under the same ownership as Trader Joe's, which we have more of than we really need IMHO.
DeleteI had "Alti" at 33D, thinking that sounded sufficiently German to be plausible, even though "TOO too" seemed a bit off for "something deep." I was suspicious, but couldn't think of anything better even though I ran the alphabet for square 42. Deep DOO doo? My gawd. I haven't heard that since grade school, and it never even crossed my mind.
OTOH, I loved starting off at 1A with DOPE SLAP, which I've used forever, or so it seems. I thought it came from the Three Stooges, but the Google N-gram viewer says it first appeared in the mid 1990's, so apparently not. Like @Liveprof, I certainly remember it being used by Tom and Ray Magliozzi on "Car Talk" so maybe that's where I picked it up.
I loved the cluing in this puzzle, but thought it seemed a little too trivia-heavy for my taste.
I remember old tv shows from the “cowboys and Indians” era; “how” with a hand up was Indian for hello, so maybe that’s where RP’s implied racism reading is coming from? Different “how” here, and no more grammatically shortened than its counterpart “whodunnit”. Is there a happy middle somewhere between looking this hard for racism and Trump wanting to reinstate Redskins and Indians as sports names?
ReplyDeletePlayed pretty tough for me! Good misleads and vagueness. Fun stuff.
ReplyDelete34 Down - couldn't resist "Canadian"!
ReplyDeleteMore 5-letter geography trivia: What is the 5-letter sovereign nation that not only has four vowels in its name, but is the only country in the world with no capital city whatsoever?!
ReplyDeleteHard to believe that there's no theme, what with an OCTET of TEE shaped blocks for a TEE TOTAL of 40 black squares. That's a very high number for a themeless puzzle. Can't just be incidental. Plus, if I tilt my head to one side and squint through my left eye, they seem to form an OCTAHEDRA of sorts. Looks like a theme to me.
ReplyDeleteMy earlier attempt to reply to @Southside 11:36 in regards to relative pay for xword puzzles was unsuccessful so I'll try again. Even AI couldn't find what the People cite pay per puzzle* but I doubt it's more than the NYT. Per cruciverb.com, The NYTXW pays $500 for a constructor's first three or four 15X15 puzzles and then $750 per puzzle after that. For comparison, LA TIMES pays $125 and Universal Crosswords pays $150 for 15X15s.
*It looks like People has a regular lineup of constructors rather than having open submissions. These constructors appear to be, in no particular order, Patrick Merrell, Steph Spadaccini and Robyn Weintraub. I looked at People's puzzles going back to May 10, 2024 and those were the only three constructors listed.
I've seen Patrick's and Robyn's puzzles in the NYT but was unfamiliar with Steph. Here's People's bio of Stephanie Spadaccini. She's had 44 puzzles in the NYTXW, the last on 10/5/199. (See how helpful xwordinfo.com is!)
I had no idea what sploot meant. My first thought was it had something to do with hibernation. But after a few crosses the answer popped into my head. Gotta look up sploot! That type of puzzle. At first I thought it was going to be very hard then later answers started coming in.
ReplyDeleteThe T aspect was sort of superfluous. Anyway I am not into grid art. But teetotal is for me a word with a fascinating history so I am happy it was in the puzzle My only real complaint is that I wasn’t sure if those T shapes were involved with the answers but then I realized no. A bit of unnecessary confusion though. I am very slow but it was a fast time for me. Liked the puzzle.
Don’t neglect SOFIA, Bulgaria! I wrote that in before Sanaa (same starting and ending letters).
ReplyDeleteSu solicitud ha sido denegada. ActΓΊe con normalidad.
ReplyDeleteStuck in many places, but liked it overall, except the TEETOTAL awkwardness. Good Friday challenge. Laughed at the spelling of BOCCI, er, BOCCE. Actually laughed quite a bit during the solve, so a pleasant time even with so many unknowns.
One of the trees in my back yard is apparently an African sumac. My wife's iPhone has a function where it'll tell us the names of plants. I find that pleasant and handy.
New word today brings our German crossword dictionary to a dozen words.
People: 6
Places: 1
Products: 8
Partials: 2
Foreignisms: 4
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 21 of 66 (32%)
Funnyisms: 7 π
Uniclues:
1 Whack the dude into twins.
2 My thought when the NYTXW spelled it BOCCI.
3 Why I need a midday nap.
4 When you realize you're a princess on the inside.
1 DOPE SLAP NOAH
2 I CALLED IT BOCCE
3 EPICNESS IDLES
4 TIARA AHA MOMENT
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Host a yoga class. AMASS MOIST MATS.
¯\_(γ)_/¯
SPLOOT - this year I have seen squirrels doing this on our deck railing. Because they were doing this in full sunshine, I didn’t associate it with heat wave behavior. Instead, it seemed they were taking advantage of a certain space that they wouldn’t find often in a tree, a flat width of about 4 inches. Interesting if extremely annoying creatures, squirrels.
ReplyDeleteAugustus died at 75 which is essentially male life expectancy today so natural causes seems like a safe bet. Apparently an early Roman historian described his death as euthanasia so perhaps poison was involved.
ReplyDelete