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Famous misquote of a James Cagney line from the 1932 film "Taxi!" / WED 7-9-25 / Squids' kin / Popular digital wallet service / California college where the writer David Foster Wallace taught English / Repeated sounds in "Hey Jude" / Redheaded boy of 1960s TV / 1970s space station
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Constructor: Desirée Penner and Jeff Sinnock
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- MUTT (1A: Top dog?) (a kind of "dog" located on the "top" of the grid)
- LID (5A: Top hat?) (a word for "hat" located on the "top" of the grid)
- PISTOL (8A: Top gun?) (a kind of "gun" located on the "top" of the grid)
- MEMO (1D: Side note?) (a kind of "note" located on the "side" of the grid)
- BOARD (27D: Side plank?) (a kind of "plank" located on the "side" of the grid)
- PUNT (58D: Side kick?) (a kind of "kick" located on the "side" of the grid)
- LIMB (13D: Side arm?) (a category that includes "arm" located on the "side" of the grid)
- PLATE (34D: Side dish?) (a kind of "dish" located on the "side" of the grid)
- TASK (65D: Side job?) (a word "job" located on the "side" of the grid)
- TROUGH (73A: Bottom feeder?) (a kind of "feeder" located on the "bottom" of the grid)
- RAY (74A: Bottom line?) (a type of "line" located on the "bottom" of the grid)
- BUCK (75A: Bottom dollar?) (a slang word for "dollar" located on the "bottom" of the grid)
Taxi! is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney and Loretta Young.The film includes a famous, and often misquoted, line with Cagney speaking to his brother's killer through a locked closet door: "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" This line has often been misquoted as "You dirty rat, you killed my brother".
To play his competitor in a ballroom dance contest, Cagney recommended his pal, fellow tough-guy-dancer George Raft, who was uncredited in the film. In a lengthy and memorable sequence, the scene culminates with Raft and his partner winning the dance contest against Cagney and Young, after which Cagney slugs Raft and knocks him down. As in The Public Enemy (1931), several scenes in Taxi! involved the use of live machine gun bullets. After a few of the bullets narrowly missed Cagney's head, he outlawed the practice in his future films.
• • •
All the plays-on-words in the theme clues are actual things, which is nice. Sometimes when you have to use repeated phrasing like this (top top top, side side side, etc.), you end up with at least a few clues that feel forced, but to me, only "side job" feels a little off, but it's not; not really. I think it's largely been replaced by "side hustle," and that's why it doesn't feel as solid (to my ears) as the others. But it's perfectly legitimate. It's possible "side plank" won't be well known to some people, but it's a pretty common core strengthening exercise (and, as vasisthasana, a staple of many yoga classes), so there's no reason to object to it. I didn't like how the relationship between clue word and answer word was not consistent. That is, the answer is an example of the word in the clue (e.g. PISTOL is a kind of "gun") ... but then, with LIMB / "arm," the category / example relationship gets reversed (e.g. "arm" is a kind of LIMB) ... and then a few other times, the answer is just a synonym of the clue (e.g. BUCK and "dollar," PLANK and "board"). The concept still works, but it keeps changing how it works, slightly, from answer to answer.
Because the fill is so frequently short, it ends up on the weak side. LOL at LALA *and* NANANA being in the same grid. NANANA has me saying "nah ... nah, nah" (70A: Repeated sounds in "Hey Jude").That's not an answer, that's a typo of "BANANA." If you replaced that first "NA" with SHA, you'd have a band. But otherwise, just say no no no to NANANA. There's scads of other short repeaters (ANODE ATO ETA EPEE ÉTÉ etc.) and a few words I only ever see in xwords (looking at you, GNAR ... also MISAIM). But there's nothing here to get particularly mad at. Oh, except ... I expect the OCTOPI-haters to be out in force once again (16A: Squids' kin). "That's not how you pluralize ... [sputter] ... Greek! ... [wheeze] ... not Latin! ... No!" Blah blah blah, I know, I know, I don't like it either, but it's in the dictionary, so please read this fantastic discussion of the Octopus Plural Dilemma at Merriam-Webster (dot com), and then get over it. Thank you. Actually, here—a little consolation for the OCTOPI-weary: if you're persnickety about these things, you'll love this 19th-century swipe at "modern" spellings:
But as the Octopus grew and multiplied, it became necessary to speak of him in the plural; and here a whole host of difficulties arose. Some daring spirits with little Latin and less Greek, rushed upon octopi; as for octopuses, a man would as soon think of swallowing one of the animals thus described as pronounce such a word at a respectable tea-table. In this condition of affairs, we are glad to know that a few resolute people have begun to talk about Octopods, which is, of course, the nearest English approach to the proper plural. (The Bradford Observer, 1873) (via merriam-webster.com)
Round-up:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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- 20A: Number with 12 zeros in the U.S. but 18 zeros in other parts of the world (ONE TRILLION) — I need to know what these "other parts of the world" are and what (in the world) they call the number with 12 zeros, then. I know that ONE BILLION, until fairly recently, had a different meaning in Britain (the "long scale" million million, or 10 to the 12th power, as opposed to the "short scale" 1,000 million, or 10 to the 9th, which is now the standard in all varieties of English). So a "long scale" billion is actually more than our standard trillion. It's absurd to me that these values weren't standardized across Englishes from the jump.
- 31A: Popular digital wallet service (CASH APP) — according to Pew Research in 2022, 26% of U.S. adults have used this app at least once. I am not one of those adults. But I somehow "knew" this answer. It sounds like a category of app and not an actual app ("hey, what CASH APP do you use?"), but nope, that's the name; CASH APP (formerly "Square Cash").
- 8D: California college where the writer David Foster Wallace taught English (POMONA) — hey, it's the alma mater of ... me! And NYT Mini Crossword editor Joel Fagliano! I was too old (c/o '91) to have had Wallace (d. 2008) as my professor, and Joel (c/o '14) was too young.
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110 comments:
The numbers in the US/Canada are based on powers of 1000; every time you multiply by 1000, you get a new prefix. 1000^2 = 1 million, and you add another factor of 1000 to get 1000^3 = 10^9 = 1 billion, and another gives 1000^4 = 10^12 = 1 trillion and so on. The "problem" with this system is that the prefix tri means 3, but it's 1000^4, and bi means 2 but billion is 1000^3, so there's this "off by 1".
In contrast, the long scale is based on powers of 1,000,000 (1 million). So 1 billion is 1,000,000^2 = 10^12, what we in the US would call a trillion. 1 trillion would be 1,000,000^3 = 10^18, and this is 1000^6 so in the US it's a quintillion. The numbers in between get the same prefixes but with -ard instead of -on. So a US billion, 10^9 = 1000^3, in the long scale is called a milliard. 1000^4 = 1,000,000^2 is a billion, and 1000^5 is a billiard, then trillion, trilliard, etc.
Yup - a bit wonky working the short fill along the perimeter of the grid. Pretty straightforward for midweek - liked ONE TRILLION x LEVITATE and YOU DIRTY RAT.
It’s a shame about RAY
MISAIM is rough and although I’ve always loved the skit - BASEMEN is awkwardly used here. Didn’t we see MOOLAH this week already? Learned POMONA from Rex over the years.
A PISTOL shot, at five o'clock, the bells of heaven ring,
Pleasant enough Wednesday morning solve.
We’ll meet on EDGES soon said I
Closer to a Tuesday in difficulty, I thought. Easy theme to pick up made it a fast solve, except I had "superdog" before SUPERBOY at first. Knew the Cagney quote (every impressionist in early TV used it), but didn't know the background (thanks, Rex).
The Beatles sing “da-da-da-da” in Hey Jude. Not “na-na-na-na.” Official lyrics have been available since 1968 or check the published sheet music.
Pretty easy, yet still interesting. Got the theme immediately.
And I learned something: “The NYTXW is supposed to max out at 78 words.” Never knew that before. Where do constructors learn tidbits like that?
Easy once I realized I could ignore the "directional" parts of the edge clues.
Overwrites:
MISs It before MISAIM at 19A
apu before NED at 30D
GrrR before GNAR at 59D
One WOE, Jason SEGEL at 38A. I probably know him, but I needed all the crosses.
Thank yoy!
NYT has an xword submission guide on their site.
annoying
GNAR is a new one for this solver, sounds like something a dog would do to a bone on a pirate ship.
Because the theme was clear after getting MUTT, my first answer, this was essentially for me a themeless mid-week puzzle (Hi, @mark!) – something different, and I like different.
[Repeated sounds in “Hey Jude”] can be, finally, a non-rapper clue for NAS!
I like the concept presented in row 10, of DAYTIME APOSTLE, one who, as the sun is up, is a strict religious adherent, but who, after the sun goes down, puts that all aside and wallows in iniquity.
GOB, STUB, NIT, BOLT (as clued) – little words with verve! And GNAR, pure loveliness.
Two theme echoes: [Inner city?] and [Inner child?], for POMONA and OPIE.
Do you pronounce YANG of YINYANG to rhyme with “thong” or “sang” or something different? Discuss.
Been a while, I think, since we’ve had a puzzle where the theme framed the puzzle – welcome back!
Fun outing today, Desirée and Jeff, got my mind bouncing all over the place. Thank you!
This was pretty much a textbook example of a puzzle I can handle. Once you grok the gimmick, you can ignore the directional part of the theme clues and it becomes a de facto themeless.
There wasn’t too much gunk, so for me it reduced to fighting my way through the mini trivia-test in the NE section where POMONA, Auntie ANNES, CASH APP and SEGEL were all hanging out together. It didn’t help that I forgot what a cotillion is as well. Anyway, I was able to persevere and weathered the storm.
I’m definitely in the cohort that remembers Jimmy Cagney (and has no clue what SUPERBOY’s secret identity is).
For some reason the Cagneyesque YOUDIRTYRAT was a staple of my younger years. Much fun to mimic or hear someone else mimic. Also popped up from time to time in the Bronx Brooklynese version—YOUDOITYRAT. a fun puzzle with a lot of old-timey references as well as a mathematical conversation piece. The proper names in the NE gave me some trouble.
Rex’s commemts on trillion and billion brought this to mind:
The media conflate millionaire and billionaire to define wealth. While there is some truth to that, in realty, $1M in $100 bills weighs 22 lbs; $1B in $100 bills weighs 11 TONS. Which is why, of course, the oligarchs need lower taxes.
Despite being somewhat famously difficult, he was a good professor ('06, here)! He also played a decent game of tennis
Thought this was a fun theme, nice to have something different, but awfully easy for a Wednesday. Those first three across entries left very little challenge at all in seeing the theme conceit, then the fill didn't take long.
Was never a fan of Cagney - he always seemed to play a character who was angry and pugnacious. Not sure I could name even a single one of his films, but the DIRTY RAT trivia was interesting. On the other hand I was a mega fan of The Beatles and the song but still had to stop and think if it was NA NA NA NA or SHA na na.
Didn't understand the theme but still finished this one in 5:47...
I am definitely learning today about these non standard number prefixes! And never heard GNAR or maybe I did and forgot it. But this was a fun one, also loved learning about OCTOPODS but I think this is one of those vernacular things that just get accepted over time. Octopi sounds good enough for most people.
@Stuart - See this page https://www.nytimes.com/article/submit-crossword-puzzles-the-new-york-times.html#link-4e1276cf and scroll down to "Technical Specs" for the NYTXW guidance. I believe every guideline has been violated at least once.
NANANA is not repeated. NA is repeated. They come in groups of eleven, a prime number, so you could answer NA or NANANANANANANANANANANA, but not NANANA.
Exactly! French, Italian, and German, for only a few instances, follow the non-U.S. model for billion: milliard/miliardo/Milliarde versus billion/bilione/Billion for U.S. trillion.
It is definitely NA and not DA in Hey Jude.
So the "top" answers are on the top and the "side" answers are on the side and the "bottom" answers are on the bottom. Got it. Actually thought this was well done, never heard of a "side plank", so thanks to OFL for the explanation, as that one felt off to me.
Very easy Wednesday, only no-knows were CASHAPP, which I have never used, and Mr. SEGEL, from something I have never seen.YOUDIRTYRAT was a gimme for someone of my age, nice to learn it's a misquote. My most-used Cagney quote is "Come and get me copper!". which I say to myself every time I m going 33 mph and trigger the "your speed" sign that says "Speed Limit 30".
Had E _ _ and wanted the state animal of Utah to be an EEL. Shucks.
Nice enough Wednesdecito, DP and JS. It Did Play Justa Smidge easy for me, but thanks for a fair amount of fun.
Oh how I loathe the expression “side hustle.” Perhaps due to this, “side job” still feels perfectly within the vernacular to me.
To continue with the USA -illion scale, the names go up to Vigintillion, which is 1 + 63 Zeros. (It's 1 + 120 Zeros in England/British). I will list them in progressing order.
Million, Billion, Trillion, Quadrillion, Quintillion, Sextillion, Septillion, Octillion, Nonillion, Decillion, Undecillion, Duodecillion, Tredecillion, Quattuordecillion, Quindecillion, Septemdecillion, Octodecillion, Novemdecillion, Vigintillion.
And that's from memory!
RooMonster Zero Guy
Hey All !
Got a chuckle out of seeing OCTOPI. "Here we go again!" was my first thought. Just accept it, anti-OCTOPI people. Like I have to accept the stupid spelling of WOAH, as apparently it's not going anywhere.
Was a Revealer really necessary today? It didn't mess up the fill having EDGES in the Center (well, except PGS), but feels superfluous.
Read my Number naming up above as a Reply to the first post. Educate yourself! 😁 Good party trick.
Have seen EDGE puzs like this before, am impressed by getting fill to work, as all the puzs edge answers/letters are locked in place. Plus, add in a Revealer, albeit away from the EDGES as is possible. Still a tough task.
Nice WedsPuz.
@Gary - Make it rain! - LEVITATE MOOLAH.
Have a great Wednesday!
No F'S - YOU DIRTY RAT!
RooMonster
DarrinV
Thought for a while that I might not get there. The south west corner (ARNO and GNAR crossing NANANA is terrible) and middle bottom section (had row instead of RAY for a while, and never heard of GOB) were the last to yield but got there eventually.
Overall, not the most pleasant solving experience with the short fill but I’ll take the gold star and hope for a tastier puzzle tomorrow!
I'm old but I never saw that Cagney movie. But I have seen Abbot and Costello do who's on first a few times. I don't know is the second baseman and I don't care is the shortstop.
Maybe I’m slow or a grouch but most of the top/side/bottom don’t actually do anything, they just announce a thing that this already known visually. Yes those clues are on the top of the grid, but we can see that. They don’t have anything to do with the answer. A mutt is a dog. There is nothing in mutt that makes them top. An arm is a limb at your side, a buck is the bottom dollar (bill), but in the majority of the clues the geographic designstions don’t actually relate to the answer.
Looks like it's Na-na-na-na-na per Utube
I chuckled at the idea of Superdog having a secret identity as Conner Kent.
Is YOU DIRTY RAT really an unknown to the young ‘uns these days? Seemed so pervasive in cartoons and pop culture generally. But I know that kind of thing certainly happens with time.
I remember when it came out. Never heard of da da etc.
@RooMonster 9:06 AM
Haha! Love it. Make it rain UP!
Marginally easy. Just shrugged off the offensive Latinate plural.
Ha! Ha! Your “Come and get me copper!” Reminds me of The Detectorists scene where the pals are so thrilled to pass their rivals (riding a scooter) - maybe they got up to 33 mph in their car.
@mathgent - Who - First Base
What - Second Base
I don't know - Third Base
But you knew that. 😁
Roo
Those who are ambitious enough to get through a David Foster Wallace novel might have noticed that Jason SEGAL portrayed DFW in the 2015 movie, End of the Tour…based on a period of time a Rolling Stone reporter (Lipski) spent with him. I have read some of his essays/short stories but I know my limitations so Infinite Jest is not on my list for reading. It’s famous for its footnotes. Um. I don’t know the actual count, but my guess it’s in World Record territory.
The puzzle was fine, maybe even dandy. Like @Roo, my first thought was…”oh no, OCTOPI again”!
NANANA doesn't work because it's not repeated in phrases of three. MISAIM should be retired as an answer. That's not a word anyone has ever said in real life.
Taxi isn’t a must-see, it’s not all that good, except for Cagney, of course.
Good one!
Initial bafflement as to why a MUTT was a top dog. But as I rolled on to LID and PISTOL, helped by crosses, it all became clear. "Top", "bottom" and "side" describe where the answers are placed and are not part of the clue description.
Very smooth and clever in its finding of so many completely in-the-language phrases for "top", "bottom" and "side". Plaudits for a theme idea that seems completely original to me. A beautifully executed, if quite easy, Wednesday.
The row at 55A could be characterized as ANODE to an ELK.
A lot of pregnant moments in my solve. PGA, PGS...
When my grandmother, who we call Ana, visits us from Los Angeles, I introduce her by saying "I'd like you to meet my NANANA from LALA land."
I don't know that I've done a puzzle outside of the Weekly Reader where I simply filled in every answer after reading the clue. Until today.
Normally, I like some edginess in my puzzles, but not this way. Aside from the one trick--and once you get it, you just apply it eleven more times -- it's really simple; I don't think they'd accept it for a Monday, even. This may be due to the constraints posed by 12 theme answers, which is another problem with the theme.
Then we have BASEMAN, which I was very reluctant to put in. I won't say I've never heard it, but what I was hearing was BAssMAN, as in this song.
I don't use the CASH APP, but I thought it was like Venmo, which I wouldn't call a digital wallet. I'd call Apple Wallet a digital wallet; I suppose Android has something of the sort, as well.
I did like the LALANANANA sequence, the ridiculous clue for ONE TRILLION
I think Blogger just ate my comment, so I'll try again:
Normally I like some edginess in my puzzles, but not this way. First, once you figure out the trick, you just repeat the same trick eleven more times. Second, the theme entries have to have very simple clues, like dog=MUTT, or most people wouldn't see the trick; and third, the constraints of 12 theme answers force the fill to be overly simple. If not for the theme, I don't think this would get accepted for a Monday.
And then you have BASEMAN. I can't say that I've never heard it, but when I did I was actually hearing BAss MAN, as in this song.
Also, I don't use the CASH APP, but I think it's pretty much like Venmo, which I would not call a digital wallet. Know what I would call a digital wallet? Apple wallet, that's what. I think Android has something similar.
I did like the consecutive acrosses, LALA NANANA.
And I am hoping one of you has revealed what Cagney actually said in that movie.
Too easy for even a Monday.
27D Just what is a side plank?! Some sort of exercise? (Googles it.) Yeah, seems to be. I know what a plank is but was never interested enough to ask, “Is there a side version?”
74A Bottom line?! RAY? This is geometry, right? But is it right? Isn’t a ray just part of a line? (Confession: I dropped out of math after my grade 10 teacher punched me in the face, so I may not have finished the lesson on lines.)
Any good answers? Yes. 61A YOUDIRTYRAT but with a gimme of a clue. 20A ONETRILLION is simultaneously dull and interesting (insofar as I want to know now why that is).
Most of this was just routinely gluey. Take the line beginning at 14A, EPEE, ETE, and the dreaded Romanized Greek cephalopods that just won’t die. This is just so much OTC stuff.
Re: TRILLION/billion etc.: Nothing is standardized (standardised?) across the Anglosphere. While most things outside the US have switched to metric, the UK still uses pints to measure milk, cider and beer. And a UK pint (or Imperial pint) is larger than a US pint. Both are 1/8 of their respective gallons, but an Imperial pint is 20 ounces whereas a US pint is 16 ounces.
Pretty easy. Solved as a themeless & came here for the theme. TOP DOG = MUTT - awful. Anyone who calls a dog a 'mutt' is a dirty rat (groan - forgive me).
Easy-medium. No costly erasures but I did not know CASH APP and ELK.
Reasonably smooth gird with a couple of fine long answers and a cute theme, liked it more than @Rex did.
“Shrinking” on Apple+ with Jason SEGEL and Harrison Ford is excellent. I highly recommend it. It has a 94% Rotted Tomatoes rating.
I've always hated Cagney too. "Angry and pugnacious" are very apt adjectives. "Hammy" and "irritating" are two more. I've managed to avoid almost all of his crime-driven, one-note potboilers -- and those films I didn't avoid, like "Love Me or Leave Me, he thoroughly ruined for me. "For the love of God, Ruth," I fairly screamed at Ruth Etting (Doris Day), "leave him, leave him, LEAVE him!!!!!!!"
Nah. Its Na.
One interesting (and new to me) point in that M-W page Rex linked to is that octopus came to English via New Latin, which means that OCTOPI is not actually inappropriate after all.
I was puzzled by the SUPERBOY clue. Back when I was reading Superboy comics, some 70 years ago, he was the boy who would grow up to be Superman, with the same cover name, Clark Kent. But Wiki informs me that there are actually 3 different Superboys: the original one; a clone of Superman, raised as Conner Kent; and the son of Superman and Lois Lane, named Jon Kent. The last is scientifically impossible, as Larry Niven demonstrated long ago: Superman's sperm would, of course, have superpowers, and would tear any woman apart from the inside.
I like to exclaim "They'll never take me alive!" when I trigger that speeding thing.
Those may be “official” but it’s not what they actually sing on the recording.
Can you give us a bit more on that 10th grade punch??
Odd little coincidence for me, but the only reason I know the "Pomona" answer is because I'd been reading an article about Mark Z. Danielewski yesterday and that little piece of trivia ended up being in there. It's a great read if you're interested in him/his writing. https://www.metropolitanreview.org/p/revolution-man
🎯🎯🎯
Yes. Change the clue for “edges”, drop the “?”s for the themes, and the puzzle. Is themeless. The most inconsequential theme I’ve ever seen.
Edgy. Different. Like.
Actually, I do seem to recall a long-ago NYTPuz that had a somewhat similar theme mcguffin, but with a slightly different approach: It had stuff like a top-row Across answer of BANANA, clued as {Company's numero uno}, so it ergo became a (TOP)BANANA. Will have to do some research ...
Anyhoo ...
staff weeject pick: PGS. Nice plural abbreve with an Ow de Speration bouquet.
some other fave stuff: YOUDIRTYRAT. YINYANG. SUPERBOY. NANANA. Who, What, I Don't Know BASEMANs.
Thanx for gangin up on us, Ms. Penner darlin & Mr. Sinnock dude. Y'all are definite xword MUTTs, so to speak.
Masked & Anonymo6Us
... and now, with my test solvers havin agreed to issue a biter alert ...
"Feta Compli" - 7x7 12 min. themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Huh?
Agree. For our canine friends of unspecified heritage, I so prefer the term “mixed.” 😄
p.s.
Well, shoot. Couldn’t find an old NYTPuz BANANA clue that fit my recollections. Thought I had it close to right, as I recall thinkin at the time that the “numero uno” part was mighty cool, for a 1-Across clue.
Maybe I was thinkin of a somewhat similar Fireball xword puztheme, or somesuch? Just know I’ve seen such a beast, with its theme a bit like today’s neat one, somewheres before.
M&A Untotal Recall Dept.
I abandoned Infinite Jest early but I recently found a book of his essays on tennis, String Theory. Wallace was a good junior player and he analyzes the game in a fresh way. Some brilliant writing, heavy with footnotes.
@Liveprof, I have related this story here in the past but here it is again, as short as I can make it. Dysfunctional family. Left home at 15. Had to find a way to get through high school. Got a job as a short order cook in order to pay the rent. Did not often get off before 2 am. Math class was first up in the morning sked. Teacher - a rather arrogant bastard - asked me for the overnight assignment and I informed him that I didn't have it done because, while he was comfortably asleep in his warm bed, "I was still f**king working". Poor choice of words on my part but I was exhausted. He took exception to my choice of expletive, stepped closer to me and punched me in the temple. I reeled a bit, kind of dizzy, but stood up, resisted the temptation to hit him back, and just picked up my books and left. Who knows, I may have been the next Euler if not for that encounter.
Of COURSE Cagney's characters were "angry and pugnacious" -- he played a GANGSTER, fer chrissakes! It was his genius as an actor to reveal just enough irony and self-awareness beneath the "bad-ass" facade to make us feel at least a smidgen of warmth for his characters, even though we knew what kind of men they were (the classic example is probably his electric-chair meltdown in "Angels With Dirty Faces" (even though it was mostly off-camera).
Not knowing the Ryder Cup org. right off the bat made the SW the hardest sector of this puzzle along with its crossing GNAR. I couldn't think of a French 101 word _AU, sheesh!
The theme was fun, and surprisingly hard for me to ignore the first words of the phrases in order to see the actual clue. My favorite was TROUGH for "Bottom feeder". Is a RAY a line? Ah, yes, math.
NANANA vs. DADADA: I just listened to a YouTube clip of "Hey Jude" and it certainly sounds like the nasal NA to me. I'm not a lip reader so watching their mouths didn't settle the question. So I dug up my piano book, "Beatlemania 1967-1970" and it has da da da. On the other hand, I can imagine that perhaps the arranger of the piece wrote the lyrics as they heard them rather than the Beatles sending them an official lyrics sheet for their songs. Ergo, no conclusion here but I will continue to sing NA NA NA.
Thanks Desirée and Jeff.
@Les, I'm stumped by RAY = "bottom line". I've got a degree in physics and haven't got a clue what it's getting at. Unless it's the fish?... still no idea.
I solved it pretty easy and quick but completely missed the theme until I came here. I vaguely remember 41 across clue mentioning "something theme something" but promptly forgot about it. Most of the themers are pretty decent, but as I commented to @Les above, not a clue how RAY is "bottom line".
Yes, I always thought Superboy was simply "Superman when he was a boy" (Didn't it actually say that on the cover of the comic book?), and that Ma and Pa Kent named him Clark as soon as they found him. (If I recall correctly, "Clark" was actually Ma Kent's maiden name.)
As a teacher (English composition, no less!) I still use "syllabi" as the plural of "syllabus." Is this misguided, as well?
Hear, hear! I thoroughly agree with all your points about Cagney. Always playing a despicable, PUGNACIOUS character.
Even in “Angels With Dirty Faces”, when he feigned contrition in the electric chair (to lose face with the street kids who adore him), didn’t endear him for me. (Though I did enjoy a great episode of Hawaii Five-O from 1976, in which famous impersonator Rich Little mimics Cagney crime scenes, forcing McGarrett into watching old Cagney films to get a jump on him.)
For the same reasons I have problems watching films about pugnacious gangsters in general. I may be simplistic in this area of my cinema-phille.
Mathgent your reply to my comment made me remember that Wallace was a very good junior player and also thought that tennis is covered in The End of the Tour, so I searched, and my rudimentary AI said this (which I didn’t know):
Infinite Jest, which is discussed in the movie, is described as a "dystopian tennis-rehab epic" and features a tennis academy as one of its primary locations.
I’m not a fan of attempting to “lawyer” a wayward clue into its alleged answer (nor am I any good at it). We have an above average group of solvers here, experience-wise, so if this group doesn’t make the connection, the odds are high that the clue is a big swing and miss.
Anyway, out of curiosity, I figure I’ll at least take a stab at it. In geometry, a RAY is sometimes compared to a line due to several similarities: obviously, they both are linear, and can be described by two points (two points for a line in a plane, and the ray has a starting point and the second point indicates the direction). Additionally, they are both continuous and contain an infinite number of points (don’t confuse a line with a line segment).
Are these similarities enough to think of them as synonyms for CrossWorld purposes? Your call - I’m neutral on this one.
. . . but on the other hand, I don't grab a handful of Kleenices when I'm leaving the house, I don't go the zoo to see the hippopotami and the platypi, I don't read authors' works published in omnibi, and I don't listen to the music of vocal chori, so maybe I'm just one of the ignorami after all
. . .
Ouch! Quite a tale. Thank you -- glad those days are behind you. Good move not hitting back.
A long time ago when I was a lad growing up in Tennessee farm country, dogs were free to come and go as they pleased. The result was that many were mixed breeds, some so well mixed that it was difficult to figure out their their lineage. We just called them MUTTs. Common wisdom was that a MUTT was a healthier, smarter and happier dog than the purebred ones. They got to choose who they mated with and were less likely to have some of the genetic health issues that come with selective breeding or inbreeding. So I have positive associations to MUTT. With an English, French, German, Dutch and a splash of Spanish lineage, I even consider myself a MUTT!
Back in the ‘60’s a lot of people heard John Fogerty sing “there’s a bathroom on the right” when he was singing “there’s a bad room on the rise.” It’s called a mondegreen. If Paul’s publishing company says the Hey Jude lyrics are “da-da-da” and a crossword constructor is using “na-na-na” it’s a mislead and should not be used again.
Here's a joke, surely in poor taste, on the topic of hitting children.
A family is at breakfast: mom, dad, two boys. The mom asks the first boy what he wants for breakfast and he says "I'll have the f*cking pancakes." The mom is stunned and slaps him! Then she slaps him again and the dad takes off his belt and starts beating the hell out of him, bam, bam, bam, as the kid is screaming his head off. Finally, the mayhem dies down and they send him off to his room. The mom turns to the second boy and asks what he wants for breakfast. And he says, "I sure as hell don't want the f*cking pancakes." (Per the late Gilbert Gottfried.)
The third verse of Strawberry Fields Forever in the US publications was butchered in the 1960’s. The UK version was correct. But that has long since been corrected in the US. If Hey Jude was published in 1968 with incorrect lyrics that, too, would have been corrected by now.
something odd for me is PGs. Is PG not an adjective? Content IS PG, it is not A PG. Being able to pluralize it means it should be a noun. Maybe I'm just unaware but I thought PG was just an adjective, and hence PGs makes little sense.
esp with PGA alr in the puzzle. I think STEM/MGS would have been better since a milligram is actually a noun.
A ray is kind of "half" a line, in that it is infinite in just one direction, not two (like a geometric line). But for NYTXW purposes, sure, a RAY is line
Conrad
FWIW I had. no clue about the actor (not even after I got the answer) but once I got the S I thought of Segel. Goes with Jason and is a fairly common name. Just saying on a Wednesday at least it may pay off
Thanks for that. Best laugh I've had in ages.
@Les and @Okanaoaner. You're ignoring how the themers work. Bottom line simply means line" on the bottom row. You're supposed to realizedthat a ray and a line are close enough to synonymous for our purposes. It's probably the weakest themer but it does work ok-ish.
¿Quién, qué o no lo sé?
This is me reading 🦖: There was a theme? What is today? Wednesday? Oh! I never even noticed it. I just saw a manic amount of question marks. And I now see the clue for EDGES told me about the theme, but it was already filled in from crosses. Who puts a theme around the edges? Crazy people, that's who. The only answer that slowed me down was the ONE TRILLION thing and I knew some verklempt math person would come in today and complain about the clue and explain it all to me. By the time I got to YOU DIRTY RAT it filled itself in so I never even saw that clue either. Everything else was super super remedial here and done in half my usual time. If you can fill a puzzle in without even reading the clues, it spoils the entire point. So looking forward to Thursday.
I'm on team NANANA.
Other than height, what makes a toad lowly? They seem to be pretty upstanding citizens as far as I can tell.
I wonder if APOSTLES knew they were apostle-ating while they were apostles or if they just became apostles afterward. I wonder if they were hanging out in Galilee looking like a bunch of anti-government hippies and some dude comes by and asks, "What are you guys up to?" and 12 of them say we're just being Apostles and one guy says they're my posse, ya know, my SUPERBOYS.
People: 11 {so not great}
Places: 2
Products: 8
Partials: 8
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 31 of 80 (39%) {Technically 1% away from being a gunkfest, but when you have 80 answers let's just agree it's going to be a gunkfest no matter what.}
Funnyisms: Usually question mark clues are supposed to be funny, and I think maybe these are supposed to be as well, but I'm not counting them today 2 😕
Uniclues:
1 Uzi-outfitted hat for your Chihuahua.
2 Reality show spinoff featuring the daughters of the Housewives of Utah Communes.
3 Why the pretzel lady is stoned.
4 Preacher with an evening job at Starbucks.
5 When you post a "Guitar Lessons" brochure at the grocery store.
1 MUTT LID PISTOL
2 DEB ONE TRILLION (~)
3 ANNE'S HIT (~)
4 DAYTIME APOSTLE
5 MEMO BOARD PUNT
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Shout from the receptionist to the upstairs workroom at the circus. TRAPEZE! LINE ONE!.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Comments about Cagney
Whatsername
Maybe you never saw it, but one of his most famous movies is very unlike the early gangster movies. Yankee Doodle Dandy, a bio musical about George M. Cohan. You probably heard the song. The movie came out in 1942. It happened to be one of my Dad’s favorite movies and he would watch it on TCM whenever it was on. (Speaking of which.) The story is your standard bs Hollywood biopic but the music etc is great and believe it or not he delivered a great performance.
If I saw any of his gangster movies it was on TV back in the early’60’s Don’t remember much . But I have seen the ending of White Heat ( 1948) and it is a powerful scene. The movie is considered a classic btw.
In fairness to him the ‘30’s gangster movies were early in his career I think he ended up being a much better actor later.
Anonymous 10:02 AM
I hear strings of 4. One slow one fast. So NANANA is off a bit but it doesn’t bother me. Close enough for crosswords.
Egsforbreakfast
ANODE to an ELK
Great catch!
I agree the puzzle was easy.
Anonymous 11:01 AM
To make it even more complicated, the British fluid ounce is SMALLER than our fluid ounce. About 4% smaller. So those 20 0z. are actually a little over 19 US fl. oz.
Bad moon on the rise
Side job wins over side hustle with me. Rex started to pick a nit and then realized he might be wrong and semi backtracked. It reminded me that sometimes I am too critical of his comments because he is really thinking as he writes and he is upfront about that.
I liked the puzzle. It was easy but the themers were not gimmes because I needed crosses for them
Great that no real complaints about octopi -so far- for a change. I prefer the English plural and think octopi a bit pretentious and octopodes unworkable in English but octopi is a thing. Interesting to learn it comes from New Latin Which I think refers to the Latin that was used as a Lingua Franca by intellectuals across Europe for centuries.
The item about this New Latin source should answer the criticism that it’s “wrong “ but it won’t.
@Anoa Bob. Agree with your take on MUTT. Especially the part bout being healthier and happier than purebreds. Maybe smarter, too, but I don't know if I'd totally agree with that because the only purebred-kennel-club-registered dog I have ever owned, Pablo by name, Havanese by breed, is pretty smart though not necessarily in the same way as a born and bred farm dog. Sort of the difference between "smart" and "learned". His closest companion on our farm is a gigantic Great Pyrenees named Fred but I often refer to them as MUTT and Jeff.
Not TCM, but TMNT. Almost certainly everyone from my generation would have heard it from Michelangelo in the first Ninja turtles movie, I'm not sure if that's where the missed code came from or if the Miss quote was so popular already that they used it in the movie.
On the other side, I wouldn't think it unreasonable to have everyone involved with this puzzle publicly shamed for 23 across in 2025.
@egs and others; yes I guess it's technically valid. It's just that all the other themers are pretty straightforward examples... a MUTT is a dog, an arm is a LIMB, TASK is a job, etc. RAY is a line is by far the weakest.
Meh puzzle and theme, sorry D and J. Not a stellar week for NYT, after last week's good show. Bloggers more interesting today! Some of the wordplay topnotch
Always liked Jason Sega/el, talented guy who wrote music for and directed a film while still quite young. If my memory serves , I believe he played b-ball for Beverly Hills High back in the day as well
Got the theme at first glance and then pretty much solved as a themeless. Agree with @Rex that it is indeed difficult to make something with such short themers all that interesting but I appreciate the concept and the execution.
I'm not sure if I'm just cranky but having a clue of Top 10 song (24A) as a non-themer seemed a little off to me. MISAIM was a bit of a groaner as well.
The Hey Jude lyrics are most definitely a bunch of NAs despite what any "official" anything says.
Paul: "Hey lads, to you have any ideas about how we should end Hey Jude?"
John: "Nah"
George: "Nah"
Ringo: "Nah"
Paul: "Wait a second..."
Jazzman 2:43: If I knew how, I would reply to your post with a single, solitary emojus.
What, you've never heard of the low man on the toad-em pole?
(Sorry…)
@Jazzman & @Skyey. Very entertaining exchange. Thank you both.
Moon not room in the second song line.
@Teedmn 8:06 PM
🤣 That's good.
I'm 40 and know a lot of pop culture, and that only BARELY tickled a slight memory in the back of my brain.
@Roo you continue to impress with your humor and your knowledge. I bet you kill at Trivia Night!
LOL @Benbini
As usual, everyone beats me to the punch, but I cannot help throwing my hand up for “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” I’m a sucker for the old b&w musicals from the 30s and 40s. I have a bunch recorded. They act as therapy when I’m at my wits’ end with the mess in this great country.
Second LOL today @Roo! I thought of LEVITATE MOOLAH, and knew you couldn’t possibly miss the opportunity.
Good one, @Hugh! 😂
Well, today’s comments are the highlight for me. Simple theme, but treated more cleverly than other EDGES themes I have solved over my 6 decades with this puzzle. Kudos to our constructors for once again demonstrating that indeed everything old can be new again. This was very easy but fun.
I adore crosswords and “crossword people,” and often wish we could have coffee in person! Think of the wackiness.
I am generally not fond of “MIS+random verb to create a word that nobody actually says” clues. It’s in my list of most disliked clues that includes (among other things) “random name that’s in another random word,” “random name if you drop, rearrange or add another letter to another random word with said answer words having no additional clues,” clues.
And has anyone ever seen or heard the word GNAR used in speech or print? “I searched the woods for a tree limb possessed of only a single GNAR.” No, but Gnarly, certainly. Maybe it’s like the word “disgruntled.” Never heard anyone use “gruntled,” but I guess. . . I love words!
Until tomorrow, neighbors. It’s so late nobody will even read this. Superb contributions everyone❣️
Thank you for that much-needed comment! I wish more people appreciated this.
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