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Bitter Italian digestif / SUN 8-24-25 / Key near Fn / King in a 1978 novelty hit / Like a column starting a row, perhaps / Jane ___, longtime writer for The New Yorker / Hit 1996 movie billed as a "homespun murder story" / 2015 Kendrick Lamar anthem that won two Grammys /
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Constructor: Michael Lieberman
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
After two very good days, we plummet. I checked out of this one early. The theme became obvious very quickly, and since it's a boring, one-note theme ... there was nothing to look forward to except some rather long anagrams. There was no cleverness in the cluing or anywhere. I'm sure finding the anagrams took some doing, but so what? That has nothing to do with how interesting the puzzle is going to be to solve, and this one wasn't interesting at all. The "products" of these hypothetical "mergers" were frequently ludicrous. What company sells FLOWER GARDENS? You don't sell FLOWER GARDENS. Just bizarre. Landscaping companies can plant gardens for you, but they don't "sell FLOWER GARDENS," that's a preposterous phrasing. And no one sells GLOVE COMPARTMENTS, either. They just ... come with your vehicle. This theme was never gonna be a winner, but those two alleged "products" took things from merely dull to aggressively absurd. Then there's the fill, which is also below average, right from the jump. This upper middle section, despite the presence of delicious FERNET, is deeply unpleasant to look at (almost as unpleasant as it was to wade through):
AROAR INPEN AER all crammed together, with only middling gunk like IFS REC ETS and SEERED to help out. Noted antisemite Roald DAHL, nonsensical plural TADAS, awkward past tense ASHED, all of these follow, just below this upper-middle section. The rest of the grid is somewhat better than these particularly bad patches, but "somewhat better" only puts it a little closer to average; it doesn't take it into positive territory. TAP SHOES and MONEY PIT and PITFALL are fine answers, but the last two cancel each other out because they dupe PIT (what an improbable word to dupe!). If you are super turned on by long anagrams, maybe this theme was enough for you. If you are super turned on by finishing a Sunday puzzle quickly, same. But this one left me ice cold. No, "ice cold" can be refreshing on a summer's day. It was like a room-temperature cocktail—looks OK, but the experience: deeply unpleasant.
There were no real sticking points, so I'm not sure what else to talk about. I had some trouble with the eastern part of the grid: the CARE part of SELFCARE, and Baker v. CARR (which I didn't know or forgot), and CLASS DAY (a thing which sounds thing-like but is not a thing I ever experienced). And then I had a moment of trouble figuring out why LIBELOUS wouldn't fit at 104A: Like a column starting a row, perhaps. It's LIBELLOUS with two "L"s because that's the British spelling (which "row" was supposed to clue you in to, "row" being British for "noisy disturbance; quarrel; heated argument"). The one thing this puzzle does have in common with the (superior) Fri. and Sat. puzzles is difficulty, i.e. there wasn't any. I don't need every puzzle to be a stumper, but at least one a week that's designed to test longtime solvers ... would be nice. Would be really nice.
More more more:
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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- STETHOSCOPES (23A: If HOSTESS & PETCO merged and became a medical supply company, they would sell ___)
- CABERNET SAUVIGNON (31A: If NEUTROGENA, BIC & VANS merged and opened a winery, they would sell ___)
- CINNAMON BREAD (48A: If IBM, DANNON & ACER merged and started a bakery, they would sell ___)
- CHOPSTICKS (64A: If POST & SCHICK merged and became a kitchenware company, they would sell ___)
- PHONE CASES (67A: If EPSON & CHASE merged and became an electronics accessories company, they would sell ___)
- FLOWER GARDENS (81A: If FORD & WALGREENS merged and became a landscaping company, they would sell ___)
- GLOVE COMPARTMENTS (95A: If GMC, PETSMART & LENOVO merged and became an auto parts company, they would sell ___)
- MAGIC MARKERS (109A: If MERCK, MARS & AIG merged and became an art supplies company, they would sell ___)
Fernet (Italian: [ferˈnɛt]) is an Italian type of amaro, a bitter, aromatic spirit. Fernet is made from a number of herbs and spices which vary according to the brand, but usually include myrrh, rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, and especially saffron, with a base of distilled grape spirits.Fernet is usually served as a digestif after a meal but may also be served with coffee and espresso or mixed into coffee and espresso drinks. It may be served at room temperature or with ice.
The Italian liqueur Fernet-Branca, developed in 1845, has a cult following in the international bartending community and is immensely popular in Argentina. Argentina consumes more than 75% of all fernet produced globally and, due to the product's popularity, also has Fratelli Branca's only distillery outside of Italy. As it is traditionally mixed with Coke, fernet has also contributed in making Argentina one of the biggest consumers of Coca-Cola in the world. Fernet and Coke (Spanish: fernet con coca) is so ubiquitous in Argentina that it has been described as "the country's unofficial drink". This combination is called fernandito. (wikipedia)
• • •
There were no real sticking points, so I'm not sure what else to talk about. I had some trouble with the eastern part of the grid: the CARE part of SELFCARE, and Baker v. CARR (which I didn't know or forgot), and CLASS DAY (a thing which sounds thing-like but is not a thing I ever experienced). And then I had a moment of trouble figuring out why LIBELOUS wouldn't fit at 104A: Like a column starting a row, perhaps. It's LIBELLOUS with two "L"s because that's the British spelling (which "row" was supposed to clue you in to, "row" being British for "noisy disturbance; quarrel; heated argument"). The one thing this puzzle does have in common with the (superior) Fri. and Sat. puzzles is difficulty, i.e. there wasn't any. I don't need every puzzle to be a stumper, but at least one a week that's designed to test longtime solvers ... would be nice. Would be really nice.
More more more:
- 35A: Jane ___, longtime writer for The New Yorker (MAYER) — not ringing any bells. The only unrecognizable answer in the grid for me today. She's been one of the top investigative political journalists, covering "abuses of power, threats to democracy, and corruption" for decades now, so I probably should know her name. My apologies.
- 41A: Sit tight (BIDE) — you can't see me, but I'm making a wincing "I dunno..." face. I would never substitute BIDE for "sit tight." The only way anyone uses BIDE at all is in the phrase "BIDE one's time," and you can't "sit tight your time," so ... this clue/answer equivalency feels awkward.
- 53A: King in a 1978 novelty hit (TUT) — in case you don't know, because you weren't alive, or for other reasons, Steve Martin had a big hit with a novelty song inspired by the 1970s touring exhibition of artifacts from King TUT's tomb called The Treasures of Tutankhamun. No, seriously. Here, look:
- 71A: Gent from Kent (BRIT) — also a lady from Leeds. Not sure why this clue is gendered. Is it the (sad) rhyme?
- 108A: Time-shares? (OVERLAPS) — I don't quite get this, unless it has to do with scheduling. I guess if you and I worked at a company for different periods of time, but some of that time overlapped ... that's what this clue is getting at.
- 14D: 2015 Kendrick Lamar anthem that won two Grammys ("ALRIGHT") — there's been so much Kendrick Lamar output (and drama!) in the past decade that I've completely forgotten this song, if I ever knew it. Gonna listen now and see if it sounds familiar. . . oh . . . yeah, when he gets to the "we gonna be ALRIGHT" part, now it's familiar.
- 46D: Fancy shopping mall (GALLERIA) — this seems like an oxymoron. Can any place with an Abercrombie & Fitch and a Hot Topic really be called "fancy." The Sherman Oaks GALLERIA is where they filmed parts of two classic teen movies of the '80s (both directed by women): Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Valley Girl (1983). Malls were great, but I dunno about "fancy." The name GALLERIA does sound fancy, though, I'll give you that.
- 51D: Ones making margin calls, for short? (EDS.) — because they write their editorial decisions (or "calls") in the "margins" of manuscripts. DELE! STET! etc.
- 64D: Key near Fn (CTRL) — got this from "Key," not really knowing what "Fn" was. It's the "Function" key. Strangely, I have one on my laptop keyboard (far lower left), but on my remote keyboard (the one I actually use) that same key just has a little globe-looking icon on it. I have never touched it. No idea what it does. Not about to find out.
- 102D: Hit 1996 movie billed as a "homespun murder story" (FARGO) — I've been chasing the high from this movie ever since it came out. One of the three best movies the Coen Bros. ever made (with No Country For Old Men and Blood Simple) (wait, I forgot Raising Arizona) (damn it, I forgot Miller's Crossing!). So, one of the five best. The Coen Bros. haven't worked together since 2018 and cinema is poorer for it (I saw Ethan Coen's new movie, Honey Don't, on Friday, so please trust me when I say "poorer") (and follow me on Letterboxd if that's something you do)
That's all. See you next time.
P.S. it was ten years ago this week that the great crossword constructor Merl Reagle died. In the age before software-assisted construction, he made impossibly witty and wacky puzzles. He was meticulous about his themes, never going to press until he'd found the perfect themer set. And no one made funnier puzzles. Even when his puzzles involved extremely groanworthy puns, you had to respect the cleverness. He was a friend and a confidante, and the fact that he would write me from time to time to commiserate about puzzle stuff made me, frankly, high as a kite. He gave me confidence. I miss him. And the puzzle world is poorer for his absence.
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| [me & Merl at the Brooklyn Marriott, sometime in the early 2010's (no, I don't know why I'm making that face)] |
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115 comments:
Easy. I don't do well with anagrams, but I didn't need the anagrams to get the theme answers. I didn't love it but I liked it a lot more than @Rex did.
Overwrites:
luxe before POSH for swanky at 1A
My corkscrews were tools before they were PASTA (1D)
My 2D #1 position was ahead before it was ON TOP
IN ink before INkEd before IN PEN for the 8D "wet" signature
I would SEEthe before I'd SEE RED (9D)
I thought ding-dong ditch was a prank before I realized it was an ANTIC (18A)
When I'm on the hunt I PRObe before I PROWL (67D)
Santa anita before CLara before CLAUS at 97D
WOEs:
Kendrick Lamar song ALRIGHT at 14D
The digestif FERNET at 20A
The Spanish province of LEON at 22A
New Yorker writer Jane MAYER at 35A
Legal case Baker v. CARR at 68D
Yeah, this was not Sunday-level. Monday-level, maybe. Not very creative, but I see how this puzzle would tickle ML's colleagues at work as they fight (corporate) mergers. I enjoyed it, as I do most Sundays, but I think Rex's write-up is pretty much spot-on.
I knew TUT, but the song was just on the very fringes on my brain. I thank Rex for providing the link. Steve Martin, comic genius!
egs - Prescient, y'day. But while NEPAL -> APNEAL, handmade, NEUTROGENA, BLAH BLAH -> CABERNET SAUVIGNON, Hal or Deep Blue?
This ep., no worse, no bettah than most other Sundays. And bush league rel. to the 2024-12-15. Anagrams ain't rly my thang, esp. ones a mile and a half long. Also, a GLOVE COMPARTMENT as an auto part? Whatevs.
Curtain of replies dropped evenly to beat of laggardly metronome, 'til OO_S_ at 98d: 108a beckoned OVERLAyS, precluding the OOPSY a half measure. And then, feet from the finish, that small cluster at the SE-ernmost, another extra measure, at which I wanted to kick the timer.
Finished w/a fault, the ferreting o'which ate a full 2 min, no idea where to begin the hunt. In my headlong dive to the bottom, GoT AN A at 15d, early on.
Invigorating Sat. p.m. amid horses, piggies and the like @ farm in the hinterlands for friends' nuptial festivity. Hearty convo, WX, good cheer all round aligned. The stuff of life. Minus alcohol - dry event, so mod.? T'day, another pahtee, out of doors.
- Riprock & fam, wishing you ppl a jolly one
Addendum: Recall well so many years ago flipping a rear page to topside of the local paper's Sunday magazine to make any dent in the Reagle game - I could rarely finish. Moving tribute.
Much easier than most Sundays, but a fun solve nonetheless. When I first realized it was an anagram trick, I thought it would take forever to rearrange everything. But the crosses were very obliging, and the cluing was mostly straightforward ("like a column starting a row" was a brilliant exception).
I'm usually pretty positive... but this one was pretty dull. Basically i just skipped over all the company names to the description of what the company made (that was the only real "clue") and used that, occasionally checking to make sure the letters I was typing were included. But they had nothing to do with the companies themselves--only with the letters. But... at least it was easy. The only thing worse than a dull, but easy, Sunday with its big grid is a dull but hard Sunday (Teeth pulling!). 22 minutes for me today, might a sunday record! : )
Everyone should read — or should have read— Jane Mayer’s “ Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right,” published in 2016. She details an extraordinary, genuine conspiracy.
Was ready for a real challenge - and some clever - even devilish - answers connecting some aspect of each of these brands/companies into a wacko hybrid product.
And then the moment came. Anagrams? Seriously? That's it? All this build-up for that? Anagrams???
Couldn't wait to plow through and finish, with hardly any joy and a moment of utter revulsion at the thought of Mega-Stuff OREOS.
@rex if you like the Coens (and who doesn’t?), the Blank Check podcast is doing their films. The Fargo episode was a delight (albeit a long one)
I liked it. It went faster than a typical Sunday, but the long anagrams worked and were a help towards solving the puzzle. And there was some nice cluing, with none causing me to wonder what the clue's connection to the answer was.
I was just starting this, struggling a bit but enjoying it, and really looking forward to figuring out the clever puns or whatever was going on in those intriguing themers. When I realized it was just anagrams, it was a huge letdown, and I was tempted to abandon the puzzle entirely. I did finish it, but without much joy and I barely remember anything about it except my disappointment.
Anagrams do absolutely nothing for me. I'd rather have a quote puzzle.
I have yet to see a Coen Brothers movie that I enjoyed, but FARGO was probably the least terrible.
A trio of clues got my brain whirring:
• [Purchases that come with metal plates] got me thinking of dishes, nameplates, and little plaques, so when TAP SHOES emerged, I could only think, “You rascal, Michael Lieberman!”
• [Like a column starting a row, perhaps] had me thinking spreadsheets, and I was getting nowhere. When that answer finally emerged from crosses, it brought a big aha, with the play on “column” as well as “row”.
• [Corkscrews and such] had me going through a mental gallery of things that curled, things that open other things (like keys), and things one pulls. Never did PASTA enter my mind, but I enjoyed the mental slide show.
I liked the PuzzPair© of CLAUS and a backward NOEL.
I especially liked Michael’s constructor notes, seeing how he’s like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to anagrams.
So, many smile-makers today from your puzzle, Michael – thank you!
The Very Old Cat was out of food at 5
Sin sal.
This is the greatest puzzle ever and filled with funnyisms. It's swanky, it's POSH. It's filled with brain-damagingly long anagrams and those are the number one things in everyone's list of awesomeness. You can even buy FLOWER GARDENS and GLOVE COMPARTMENTS at a GALLERIA with them and you can't buy those things in real life.
Finished on FERNET as it's new to me, but I hope we see lots of cocktail recipes focused on the only correct way to make a FERNET martini.
Don't you wish we all could carry STETHOSCOPES around our necks and have a reason to use them? They're a legit fashion accessory. They'd make you look great eating TATER TOTS while watching a mind-blowing film with subtitles by TATI.
The [pain in the neck] clue for TONSIL is knee-slappingly amusing. Don't you relish every appearance of OREO or TADAS? Don't you want to have CINNAMON BREAD toasted with butter right now?
Steve Martin wrote the King Tut song and he's having a hell of a moment again with Murders in the Building and so many banjo things. Isn't banjo the best instrument especially if you're dancing to one in TAP SHOES?
I wrote IN INK, but IN PEN is way better. I think our beloved editors hoped to spare 🦖 from another Yale ELI and gave him a Big Pharma ELI. So they're trying really hard.
Last time Las Meninas appeared I read up on all the folks and symbolism in the painting so it was nice to have it handy.
I put DITCH DAY instead of CLASS DAY for the seniors, probably because saltiness is still creeping into my brain.
People: 17
Places: 2
Products: 20 (alas)
Partials: 14
Foreignisms: 5
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 58 of 140 (41%) {Another gunkapalooza, but think of how great it feels to fill in a proper noun.}
Funny Factor: 12 😅
Uniclues:
1 Whispers, "I love you."
2 Draws on the wall ... twice.
1 AIRS OUT EROS RHETORIC
2 OVERLAPS MAGIC MARKERS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Songs about tigers. CATTY CANTI.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
OOPSY. Anyway, the Very Old Cat was up at 5AM informing me of his empty food dish, short night, tried solving online again, which always has me groping around for the clue I want, and so on, all this to explain that it took me until CHOPSTICKS to realize we were doing anagrams. Duh. I normally enjoy these and am pretty good at them, glanced at the clue and wrote in GLOVECOMPARTMENTS, e. g., but geez did that take a while to land.
Otherwise not bad, FERNET was all crosses, didn't know ALRIGHT, or the CARR case. Kept reading "row" to rhyme with "cow" and changed CLAUS to CLARA and back as SYD (?) finally showed up. The other do-over was changing AERATES to AIRSOUT, which was slowing things down. Also, RIDABLE,. needs another E after the D, if you ask me. As is the word looks like something that rats might be.
Nice enough Sunday if you like anagrams (I do) and ML found some good ones, but it sure took a Mighty Long time to catch on. Thanks for a fair amount of fun.
As Rex describes him, I totally agree that Merl was a most clever and super entertaining puzzle constructor. I miss him very much as well. Even after his death, I enjoyed many of his works under the Classic rubric in the Sunday Washington Post offerings. Sadly, they seem to have dropped the Classics when the new and hideous pink format was recently adopted. You can still find Merl's genius elsewhere, though. You are in for a treat, especially if you don’t already know his work.
I think I was on my third theme answer before I realized we were dealing with anagrams (Duh !) - my uncanny prowess at discerning themes shines through yet again.
This one kind of lost me at GLOVE COMPARTMENTS - almost a carbon copy of my feelings this past week. It’s hard to believe that these types of nonsensical themes are the best that the NYT can attract. We are inundated with this stuff - I’m really at a loss to understand it, never mind attempting to formulate a plausible explanation as to why this is the case.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for the “foreign word” in the clue indicates a foreign variation of the answer trick, but I’m not a fan, so I’ll try my best to just shut up and eat my peas the next time I encounter it.
To quote Conrad this morning: “I didn’t love it but I liked it a lot more than @Rex did.” Maybe something’s wrong with me, but I actually enjoy anagrams and found this puzzle at least mildly amusing.
And I gotta echo Anonymous 6:37’s recommendation to read Jane Meyer. One of the best.
@Rex: You call out Roald Dahl’s antisemitism (which I don’t question but don’t recall ever actually encountering in any of his books that I’ve read) but show us that jaw-dropping movie poster with no trigger warning?
As for the Coen brothers, when I first saw “Fargo” I hated it because it came off (to me) as a bunch of smug Hollywood types making fun of Midwesterners. Later I learned that the Coens are from Minnesota, and my reaction changed totally. It’s a solid rule that you can criticize any place you’re from but you better be careful saying anything bad about someone else’s home.
For the same reason, I was roped into watching the Coens’ “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” expecting to hate, hate, hate the way they would portray the South and Southerners. (And for the record, I’ve said lots of critical things about the South, where I was born and thankfully escaped in early adulthood.) But right at the beginning I saw that it wasn’t a movie about the South, it was a retelling of the Odyssey in a fantasy world full of Southern references. And that’s OK by me. I love that movie—one of my all-time favorites.
As Rex says in his Word of the Day Wikipedia quote, Fernet (especially con coca) is immensely popular in Argentina. Not to my liking, but I was delighted to see it in the puzzle and to garner WOTD honors.
Jane Mayer is a favorite of mine.
Hey All !
Someone makes GLOVE COMPARTMENTS, they don't just magically appear on a car. You need the box part, the door, the hardware to mount it. Unsure if there is a dedicated standalone GLOVE COMPARTMENT company, or if they're a product of a company that makes other stuff. If you've ever been in a auto parts store, you'd see the "Help!" products (which are little things that really do help). Maybe it's them?
Anyway, thought at first, before realizing they were anagrams, that the products each company made would be combined to form some wacky new thing. Like HOSTESS and PETCO, medical supply, Tasty Medicinal Treats for your dog? A little long to put into a grid ...
Was looking forward to try guessing what each product was, sorta let down when realized they were just anagrams. Now, I like anagrams as much as the next guy, and I know these took some effort, finding actual Companies to "merge", but still felt a tinge of a letdown.
DNF with aRoN instead of ERIN. The crosses worked well enough, CABARNET (sure, spelled wrong, and basically triple checked with the Company letters, but still), BoDE. BODE, BIDE, TO-MAY-TOE, TOM-MAH-TOE.
Santa CLAra before CLAUS, Odes-OILS (poet? painter? Not up on my arts), edy-BEN, raIN-SKIN, Aerates-AIRSOUT, think that might be it.
Overall nice puz. On the easy side, fill OK, you could say I was BEMUSED and amused.
Have a great Sunday!
Six F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
The GALLERIA is name-checked in the song Valley Girl, along with “all these cute little shoe stores” but then again that song actually is not in the movie, and Frank Zappa tried to stop production for trademark infringement. The eighties were fun, kids.
Wordle 1,527 X/6*
🟨⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
I’m mad at Wordle this morning. I had everything but the second letter and of course there was at least seven possibilities. I may never recover my 99% success rate,,, Damn you Wordle!!!
I solved this entire puzzle and never even figured out they were anagrams. I thought I was too dumb to understand the obscure connection or meaning between the answers, but it turns out I was too dumb to figure out they were anagrams.
Poorer
What happened to Patrick Berry? I miss his excellent puzzles that used to appear in the NY Times Sunday magazine. Anyone know?
Like some others, I hoped that the company mergers would result in some delightfully wacky punny products, but no. But if there had to be anagrams, at least these were easy to get.
For the heck of it, I googled, "Can you buy a flower garden?" and got this AI-generated response: "Yes, you can buy a flower garden, typically in the form of plants, seeds, pre-planned garden kits, or even by hiring a professional to install a custom-designed flower bed for you." I did not google, "Can you buy a glove compartment?"
That key with the "globe-looking icon": if it's Apple hardware, that would be for changing keyboard layout (it's an international option, get it?). If you only ever use the US keyboard layout (or only ever UK, or only ever French, or … you get the idea), you won't use the key. I change regularly between four languages (sometimes more if I need to quote, say, Greek or Cyrillic or something else non–Latin script). Also, on iPadOS, the spell checker uses the keyboard layout as a cue for which dictionary to use, and in diacritical-heavy languages that aren't my first language it's a big help to have the spell checker to make sure the accents are right.
In short: if you only ever type in one language, you won't need it; but if you do need it, you use it a lot.
A stunt puzzle in which there was no need whatsoever for me, the solver, to participate in the stunt. A cursory glance would do the trick.
Example: I have CINNEMON followed by a 5-letter word. I glance at the clue. Nope -- no "L"s in the anagrams. Can't be ROLLS. Ah, but there's a B and a D. BREAD.
On to the next anagram that I won't have to do either.
Once again, a constructor has set himself a Monumental Task to amuse himself, but has forgotten to amuse the solver. I suspect computer programs make this sort of thing ridiculously easy to pull off, which is a shame. Too many constructors become entranced with the intricacies of their own creations and never think how -- or even if -- the solver will be involved.
Kinda salty again today, @Gary. Try to be a bit more upbeat tomorrow. Xanax could help.
Much appreciated Dahl "note".
Like Rex, I was expecting a clever twist. I assumed the answers would be a conceivably wacky product that would be a combination of a HOSTESS dessert and PETCO dog toy that sounded like a type of wine. Tall order I know but I was surprised when it was just a straight anagram. Raced through in almost record time. Barely a hesitation. 20:30
For BIDE, I thought it was legit cluing (if a little archaic) as in Danny Boy: "'tis you must go, and I must bide"
I thought the EDS making a margin call might need Viagra.
When I speed solve, I ERRATA high rate.
When you knowingly and falsely disparage Gehrig, Costello and Reed in writing, you libelously LIBELLOUS.
I felt exactly like Ralphie with his decoder ring when I realized that these were just anagrams.
I often enjoy anagrams, especially when one anagram is a clever commentary on the other, but some of these are Not Well Done, for reasons Rex points out. I do appreciate the effort it might have taken to anagram CABERNET SAUVIGNON.
Easy, yes. Fill in the blank easy. A rote exercise full of crossword crusty fill.
Misfires: pERNod before FERNET, and AeRates before AIRS OUT.
Agree with Rex about BIDE. And there's something about the "working" part of the clue for SELF CARE that puts me off. I can kind of see it if "working" is PARSED as a gerund, but that feels like a very awkward construction; otherwise the part-of-speech mismatch between clue and answer is pretty glaring, and it could have been avoided. Perhaps there's some other reading that I'm missing.
On Coen Bros. movies: I also like O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Hudsucker Proxy, and Hail Caesar!.
The expression on Sharp's face (seated next to Reagle): didn't there used to be another photo of him, apparently at a get-together, where it looks like there's Cheetos residue or some other orange gunk around his mouth and in his teeth? Assuming I didn't hallucinate that one, the overall expression was similar to this one.
Around here it’s skip day much simpler to do
Forgot to add:
BRAVO to "Like a column starting a row" clue
I’ve been to the Galleria in Milan Italy and the one here in Houston designed by the architect Gerald Hines who the University of Houston school of architecture is named after which my son graduated from who works for Gensler running computer systems
Easy and dull, as others have said. Just came here to second Rex’s REC on Blood Simple. It’s a really fun one.
For me, the bottom two thirds of the puzzle came together before the top third; I got very little traction in the top third Acrosses on first pass. But lower down I saw CINNAMON coming together and saw that the answer to the bakery clue would be an anagram. That made everything more swooshy. It was satisfying to solve the themers, though I'm not sure anyone actually sells a FLOWER GARDEN.
I like the clue for TATER TOT (Small Fry) . . . can't figure out if I like the clue for TONSIL or not; I mean, I guess your throat is in your neck, and your tonsil is in your throat, so . . .? I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had OSLO before ASIA for the Winter Olympics clue. Finally, the NYT is an American publication, so I wish we didn't have to have the British, double-L spelling of LIBELLOUS. I really hesitated over that one.
All in all, a satisfactory if not especially sparkly Sunday puzzle.
And the sound track from it is one of the best ever.
A bicycle or horse is Ridable? What if the horse is a bucking bronco or the bicycle has a flat? 😊
That’s how I felt. I wasn’t getting the clue answers because I was trying to combine products. Only after I filled in “Cabernet Sauvignon” and thought, “what the hell does that have to do with those companies?” Did I notice the anagram theme and then it was easy.
Thanks to @Gary Jugert for a great review...yes, another Sunday "gunkapalooza" which made it hard for pop cture nescients like me to get traction, but a clever theme, well executed, with fair enough crissings that no naticks were encountered. The clue for LIBELLOUS was beyond clever and deserves special mention...the one hilarious offering. Overall, a satisfying puzzle....if not five stars at least four and a half.
Thanks to Rex for the education on FERNET...as a fan of herbal liquers, I can't wait to experiment with it!
@egsforbreakfast 9:45 AM
Xanax anagrams to AnaXX and maybe she'd make me more upbeat? {I will grow up someday.}
One of the worst if not the worst Sunday puzzles in a very long time. And I love anagrams. This one had zero pizzazz. And way too much non-word junk.
I guess serious puzzlers don't use the print edition, or if they do they would go to the puzzle first, but I still think it's awful that the paper prints a spoiler "Tips for Today's Puzzle" in its front section. Who really would want the answers handed to them like that?
Lol @Egs and @Gary! Gary, you absolutely did what you said you were going to last night which made me chuckle. @Egs, I hope you saw my message last night …omg…PLEASE keep commenting!
Haven't read the comments yet. For me this was the easiest Sunday ever (& no typos :). And it was fun except for FERNET, LIBELLOUS, ASHED, BIDE.
FARGO brought a smile to my face. When my husband was moon-lighting as a celebrity limo driver (back in the day) we saw FARGO with Betty Buckley & some crew after the show.
I was tired & fell asleep on it.
Thanks for the fun, Michael :)
"Sunset Boulevard"
I’ve been telling myself for weeks that I am much too negative, that I should lighten up a bit. Maybe take a cue from @Lewis, though I could never go all out happy like him. I suspect that when he hits the shower in the morning he is awash in honey and ambrosia. I’m more of a soap and water guy but I’m thinking of trying scented soap.
But just when I decided to try being nice, I ran up against this thing. Anagrams! And particularly awkward ones. Grrrrr, which is about all I can say while I’m biting my tongue.
But I can’t let this one thing go. I have been a smoker since I was a newly minted teenager - well over 60 years with one 20 year hiatus when our kids were young. Cigarettes and cigars. I have never heard anyone say they ASHED their cigarette. Or their cigar. You might flick the ash off your cigarette, or tap it off your cigar but you do not, in my world, ash it. Now a diligent someone in this commentariat might find a mention of such action in a 1940s noir novel but it never occurred in the real lives of me and my smoking buddies. Dumb, desperate answer.
And that’s as negative as I’m gonna get tonight. I’m just gonna sit here listening to Betty Carter’s version of Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On, and cash out thinking positive thoughts.
I’m so surprised you didn’t know Jane Mayer, if not from the New Yorker then from her always world- weary sounding interviews on NPR, where she sounds like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she’s the only adult in the room — which she sort of is!
Yeah, I looked up DAHL after reading Rex…it’s true and there is also a story about how his grandchildren apologized on his behalf which was coincidently right before Netflix purchased rights to several of his books. I DID know that he had been married to Patricia Neal and was also a philanderer…which led to their divorce. Another example I guess as to whether one can separate the art from the artist.
Yikes. I’d hate to choose between THOSE options! ;)
IT is "Gent from Kent" Because it rhymes.
Once in a while, I actually know the name of a person in the puzzle and today MAYER went in without crosses. Though I did mix her up in my head with Judith Miller, thinking it was Jane who spent time in jail for not naming sources, but no, that was Judith Miller (note same initials, possibly the "source" of my confusion) and the Valerie Plame scandal.
I do agree with Rex that the theme was kind of meh. I didn't think deeply about how ridiculous some of the products were, I just wanted to get the anagram correct.
FERNET, I've never heard of it. Now I want to try a sip, just to see if it's any good. The Wiki description sounded intriguing. Though if it's anything like the Italian grappa, I'll pass!
Thanks, Michael Lieberman.
Well @Gary J, you are going to see me be a little salty today. First. I pretty much agree with what Rex said. There were a few clever clue/answers like TONSIL and LIBELLOUS (did I spell that right?). But. I had to roll my eyes on OTHELLO. C’mon. Otello is just how it’s spelled in Italian.
Getting the saltiness aside, I finished the puzzle and appreciate the work ALL constructors do.
I’d guess you can generate anagrams like these pretty easily with a computer program or AI, so they are not as impressive or interesting as they might have been years ago.
No, don't :)
Easy. It seems like we just had a Sunday anagram puzzle?
“…boring, one-note theme” covers it for me. Marisa Tomei might have added some sparkle.
I hear you! Today I lucked out and got it in three tries, but I've lost in "consonant roulette" more than once.
My sentiments exactly!
When there are numerous options for a single letter, put as many as you can into a word and devote a turn to that. You'll either get it or rule a bunch out at the cost of one guess.
Lou Rawls: "What about me??"
Do you know that Wordle never uses a word twice (at least so far).
I SEETHEd first, but solving IN PEN made me SEE RED.
It clearly appears that I'm not alone in my disinterest in anagrams.
Even so, I didn't hate the solve, as this was a puzzle without those little circles and shaded squares.
I don’t get the negativity. I loved this- took me a long time to realize the anagram theme, but really enjoyed sitting on the recliner with the dogs, sipping coffee and doing this IN PEN.
Yes, a Sunday anagram puzzle last month:7/27/25.
Any time I’m reminded of Otello, the late Verdi masterpiece, is fine with me:)
He still has puzzles in the New Yorker, often on Wednesdays.
This isn't a kiss-ass comment.
But I think if we were all more like Lewis (myself included) we'd be much happier - just saying ...
👍👍
Once again I am amazed at Rex's aability to demonize authors. Dahl is most certainly a noted author. But a noted anti-semite? Never heard that before and certainly never had a hint of it in any of his stories. So how is it so?
And if he is/was anti-semitic, why bring it up? Why encourage anti-semitism by broadcasting that a famous and beloved author held that view?
Go back and read @Rex’s blog on the 7/27/25 puzzle
@Lewis. Agree re the three clues . They brought me smiles as well. And I'll add one: 119A. Misdirected for long enough to bring a big smile when I realized the meaning of element in the clue.
Not my favorite puzzle, but fairly fun. I caught on to anagrams with 23A and mildly enjoyed sussing them out - using the letters in the names to verify what I thought the answer was from a few crosses.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/11/read-roald-dahl-books-anti-semite
“In one example, in 1983 Dahl reportedly told Britain's New Statesman magazine that "there is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity. ... Even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason."” (NPR)
Well, you made me want to hear MMWYBDO, but I couldn't find Betty Carter's version on Spotify, so I listened to Della Reese, Jeannie Cheatham, and Myrtle Brown instead. All pretty wonderful—thanks!
blood simple is in my top 5 movies of all time. sonnenfeld was a genius.
yeah, not real enthused about anagrams for a SunPuz-sized theme. Kinda ambitious constructioneerin, with 8 long themers, tho. Real easy to solve the themers, so the solvequest moved along swiftly, at least.
staff weeject picks: EDS and INC. For their feisty ?-marker clue wordins.
some fave stuff: HAHA clue. TATERTOT & its clue. TUT's ode to Steve Martin's "singin". RHETORIC [Built by ERIC & THOR]. MONEYPIT. GALLERIA & RIA. MUTTERED [= adopted by a scruffy canine?].
Thanx, Mr. Lieberman dude. Sorry about my MIXED feelins, theme-wise. Otherwise, quite likable, at our house.
Masked & Anonymo6Us
... now, for a sorta vaguely anagram-related different take? ...
"Spooneruntisms" - 7x7 themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
p.s.
@egs & @Jugert: har
Haven't hit on a good combo anagram for egg/jugert, yet.
(Jet egg rug don't mix things up enough.)
@beezer: how about anagrammed quotes?
Cute gimmick -- only problem was that if you weren't familiar with the corporate brand names in the clues (LENOVO, ACER, and VANS, for me) you really had little idea of how to figure out what the answer was supposed to be. A LOT of brand names in both clues and answers recently -- seems as if a course on "Shopping Literacy" is becoming a prerequisite for solving these puzzles.
Yes, dull and tedious. Plus it was littered with annoying names, or regular words unnecessarily clued as or using names (eg ALRIGHT, TIGER, RASCAL). Plus it had ASHED.
There is no "Fn" key on my regular US English Dell keyboard. I vaguely recall having one years ago, maybe on a work computer?
Typeover: POTHOLE before PITFALL for "Hazard for the unwary".
I kept waiting for the theme answers to be thematic to the companies, not their letters. I was into that idea, and at first had MedIC MARKERS because I thought they were going for some kind of clever wordplay combining what the companies do (isn’t AIG insurance or something?), but then got here and realized “oh. Anagrams.” It’s fine. Could have been way more interesting.
Right on
Ink no errors. Dull and haven’t done an errorless Sunday for a while— so some pleasure.
This is what you get when you rely on amateurs. Dreck.
@Liveprof - if you solve in 'hard mode', that's not an option. All you can do is try them one by one.
A few years ago I innocently picked up a book called COOKING WITH FERNET BRANCA- sort of the Italian version of Peter Mayle's A YEAR IN PROVENCE. The story included several recipes for the supposedly fantastic dishes the main character was preparing. When it came to EEL FLOTANTE, I figured out it was all a joke.
I see your comment comes from his!
In 2020, Dahl's family published a statement on the official Roald Dahl website apologising for his antisemitism. (wikipedia)
I also had all but the second letter on the second try with several possible solutions left but got lucky on the next guess. Haven't done Worldle in a long while
Very easy Sunday - just under 20 minutes for me which is about as fast as I can fill in a Sunday. Only hangup was LIBELLOUS, but just for a few seconds.
When I saw "Hostess" (23A) and "Mega-Stuf (38A) in the same puzzle, I was really looking forward to consuming a balanced diet of Twinkies and Oreos.
Haven’t done the puzzle yet.
FWIW
On Friday in the Times paper Art section there was a full page article about N. C. Wyeth an illustrator in the first half of the 20th century. known by those on the blog who are aware of the origins of the term NATICK.
About ten years ago Rex commented on the cross of N.C. Wyeth and the town of Natick, MA He said henceforth on this blog any cross of two (objectively) obscure proper names at an uninferable
letter will be called a natick.
NC turns out to be a very interesting character. He did illustrations for over 100 classics from Scholastic, some still sold today He also did murals and ad work. His passion became fine art but that didn’t pay.
His more famous son Andrew Wyeth (Christina’s World) almost lost his marriage because of a lover who was revealed by his secret stash of his nude paintings of her
But NC had an even more scandalous affair, with the wife of of his youngest son Nicholas. And died tragically when he and her youngest child ( his grandson) were killed by a train at a grade crossing. The article was ambiguous about whether the child was actually his.
The occasion for the article was the installation of a huge mural arranged for by a grandson ( Andrew’s son).
@Liveprof, if you're playing on hard mode you are forced to play green letters in place and use every yellow letter.
I fail to see how RP could possibly be "encouraging" anti-Semitism. The most this information would do is get people to regard his writing through a different lens (ever read his adult fiction? some of it is decidedly creepy).
p.s.
Ahar! egs+jugert builds egret jugs, tho. Sounds like a best seller, to m&e.
M&A
p.p.s.s.
masked+anonymous = mouse yanks nomad, btw.
Liveprof, I don't play Wordle anymore, but my memory is that the "hard" setting compels the player to continue playing the letters confirmed as correct. If the setting is on easy, and the player has _ATCH in green, then guessing PLUMB could help with finding the missing letter -- but this isn't possible under the hard setting.
Anonymous 3:59. I don't think I have read any of his adult fiction. "Decidedly creepy" sounds decidedly interesting. I'll have to check it out. My kids loved his non-adult fiction. It was definitely a cut above most of the stuff they were reading at the time.
Did the puzzle at breakfast but commenting at dinner. Contrary to Rex and most commentators in this blog, I enjoyed this puzzle for the anagrams and a few of the clues. At first like many of us I thought there would be some punny answers reflecting the companies named, and was half-relieved half disappointed when they turned out to be only anagrams, but that was OK with me. Goal was trying to guess the answer with the fewest crosses—didn’t take too many so was relatively easy morning coffee…but thought it was quite an effort/accomplishment on the constructors part to develop the alphabetic fit between companies and products.
I just checked out how to use foreign language text on my MacBook Pro. It's kinda cool. Even autocorrects my bad Greek.
Disliked the theme today and the merging companies products made no sense to me
Re 8D: i don't really like ball point pens. I use a fountain pen, so the "wet" signature thing resonates with me. Not really a problem because I'm right handed and there is, therefore, rarely a smear. But a problem arises when I am asked to "press down" to make a carbon copy. I just flip the page up and re-sign and all the lawyers and accountants look skyward. Now I'm worried that my ginormous financial empire will come crumbling down because I prefer the feel of a 1.5 mil nib on a German fountain pen to a cheap Bic. Oh, woe is me.
I’m pretty sure I just completed my fastest Sunday ever, but don’t keep track. This felt Monday easy but I am impressed with the work undertaken to make the theme work. Impressive. In my youth, every doctor and dentist I ever visited had “Highlights” magazine among the reading materials in the waiting room. Lots of anagrams.
My eye doctor also had a basket of paper and pencils with a sign that asked that folks not write answers in the magazine so that others could enjoy solving the puzzles. And someone always did it anyway.
The TATER TOT is a favorite of mine. More potato flavor and, if well cooked, the satisfying crunch of a twice cooked french fry. That’s it for me today.
Anonymous 10:01 AM
Self care is contemporary expression. It is used in all sorts of ways, including as represented in the puzzle. I actually can’t stand the expression. But it is a thing. Nothing wrong with the clue. Except I wish they wouldn’t.
Bide a while. Bide your time. I disagree with Rex as bide is
an old word that lives on more in set phrases than independently. All the clue has to do is get close to one meaning of bide. My problem was the crossing quote!
Anonymous 10:17 AM
Galleria. That is exactly what I thought about, the Italian origin and a vague memory of that Houston mall. Galleria is a name given to upscale malls but was of course overused in time. However, the clue fits with the Italian source!
JT
As someone noted , in defense of the constructor and/or editors, the Britishism row signals the British spelling No I didn’t get it till I read Rex but obviously an attempt to toughen an easy puzzle!
Thanks! That's news to me. Not sure I'd be in favor of that.
Okanaganer
Maybe it’s an age thing but I really liked the RASCAL clue. When I was a child in the fifties those old Rascals shorts were rerun endlessly on TV. Also I think need to toughen the puzzle necessitated the clue. Tend to agree on the others though
Same. Boo.
Just because you don’t know these things doesn’t make them What On Earths
“Highlights” magazine in the doctor's office made those visits tolerable. But I don't remember any anagrams. Just find the “hidden pictures” which my Mom and I did (without circling them and spoiling the fun). And the Goofus and Gallant feature.
JT. Just popped back in to see who was posting late and noticed your post about MMWYBDO. Was struck by the name Jeannie Cheatham (some ancient memory), so looked her up. She was the original. She and her husband wrote it. Listened to it on YouTube and it was great.
Glad you heard it!
I lost my gloves
Did you look in the glove compartment?
Why would I ever look there?
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