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Longest key on a keyboard / TUES 8-5-25 / First modular space station / Singer India.___ / Messy class for kindergartners
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Hi, everyone, it’s Clare back this time for the first Tuesday in August! Not much to report given the shorter-than-usual turnaround. But we of course had some important sports this weekend, with the Washington Spirit soccer team winning on a last-minute goal from Trinity Rodman, returning after months out with a back injury. We’re less than two weeks away from the start of the Premier League. (As you may recall, my Liverpudlians won the title last year. I might have mentioned that once or twice.) And tennis is gearing up, with the US Open starting in less than three weeks! In other news, I don’t have a client interview tomorrow at 7 AM, so that’s a nice change of pace!
Anywho, on to the puzzle…
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: Punny answers where the article “a” can be read as separate from the rest of the next word to literally answer the clue, or the “a” can be read with the rest of the word
Theme answers:
- A/CUTE ANGLE (17A: Adorable perspective on things?)
- A/SCENT OF MAN (28A: Axe or Old Spice?)
- A/HEAD OF TIME (46A: Major newsmagazine's C.E.O.?)
- A/CORN SHELL (61A: Taco tortilla option?)
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. At age 42 in 1948, Paige made his MLB debut for the Cleveland Indians; to this day, this makes him the oldest debutant in National League or American League history. Paige was 59 years old when he played his last major league game, which is also a record that stands to this day. Paige was the first black pitcher to play in the American League and was the seventh black player to play in Major League Baseball. Also in 1948, Paige became the first player who had played in the Negro leagues to pitch in the World Series; the Indians won the Series that year. (Wiki)
• • •
Overall a pretty good theme, with some above-average, clever fill. I wouldn’t say the theme was anything to write home about, and I sort of missed having a revealer (not that it’s a requirement), but the answers were clever wordplay. The only one I didn’t like was A CORN SHELL / ACORN SHELL (61A) because I really don’t think that ACORN SHELL is in the lexicon. I’ve never talked about an ACORN SHELL in my life. Have you? My favorite was A CUTE ANGLE / ACUTE ANGLE (17A). The fill was quite clean and full of uncommon words, especially on a Tuesday. I really enjoyed seeing IMPETUS (23A: Driving force), STASIS (1D: Equilibrium), USURPS (3D: Seizes, as control, ARDENT (49D: Gung-ho), and TACOMA (2D: City that shares an international airport with Seattle). Then SAVES FACE (10D: Maintains one's dignity) and STEAM ROOM (33D: Spot to sit and sweat) weren’t bad long downs. I enjoyed having both TAHOE (54D: Chevy model whose name references a body of water) and RIO (62D: Kia model whose name references a body of water) in the puzzle. Having those close to OCEANS (47D: About 71% of the earth's surface) was clever.
A few answers made this a slightly harder than usual Tuesday for me. I got stuck on SYNOD (5A: Church assembly) for some reason. I didn’t know ARLO (16A: Janis's spouse in the funny pages). I wasn’t previously familiar with PAIGE (34A), which I’ve now rectified with the Googling I’ve done and learning about what an amazing pitcher and player and person he was. I blanked on MICA (52A: Flaky rock), and TEA TREE (53A: Member of the myrtle family that's the source of an essential oil) was a little old-fashioned for me.
I didn’t like how the top of the puzzle had STUB (1A: Leftover part of a ticket) and then STUD (10A: Support to which drywall is attached). I also have a big bone to pick with SMEAR (38A: Mascara mishap) because a mascara mishap is most definitely a smudge and not a smear. I even typed out “smudge” because I was so certain, before realizing it wouldn’t fit. I Googled to confirm, and if you search “mascara smear,” results about a smudge are all that come up.
SPACE BAR (21A: Longest key on a keyboard) was cute. I was staring at my keyboard trying to think if it could be “caps lock” or “command,” wondering what would fit. But it was quite literally the longest key instead. That clue was a long way to go for COOP / CO-OP (22D: Certain apartment (with a hyphen) or farm housing (without one)), but I liked it.
Misc.:
Signed, Clare Carroll, who when she needs a Lyft feels A LONG FOR THE RIDE
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Misc.:
- Here’s a quote from a Q + A with Willie Mays about Satchel PAIGE (wildly high praise from probably the best player in baseball history) —
- Oh, yeah. We were in Memphis, Tennessee. It was like a playoff game. It might have been ’48. Satchel had a very, very good fastball. But he threw me a little breaking ball, just to see what I could do, and I hit it off the top of the fence. And I got a double. When I got to second, Satchel told the third baseman, "Let me know when that little boy comes back up." Three innings later, I go to kneel down in the on-deck circle, and I hear the third baseman say, "There he is." Satch looked at the third baseman, and then he looked at me. I walk halfway to home plate and he says, "Little boy." I say, "Yes, sir?" because Satch was much older than I am, so I was trying to show respect. He walked halfway to home plate and said, "Little boy, I’m not going to trick you. I’m going to throw you three fastballs and you’re going to go sit down." And I’m saying in my mind, "I don’t think so." If he threw me three of the same pitch, I’m going to hit it somewhere. He threw me two fastballs and I just swung...I swung right through it. And the third ball he threw, and I tell people this all the time, he threw the ball and then he started walking. And he says, "Go sit down." This is while the ball was in the air. He was just a magnificent pitcher.
- My sister and I actually met Willie Mays because he gave out baseballs for Halloween in our neighborhood when we were kids. My dad really wanted to meet him, too, but we sprinted ahead because we were so excited. My dad just got to wave to Mays from partway up the driveway. Sorry, Dad!
- I always love to see TAHOE (aka the prettiest place on Earth) in the puzzle. Especially seeing the weather forecasts recently in TAHOE (54D) versus D.C., I kind of want to move back.
- I know ULNA (12D: Arm bone on the pinkie finger side) is common crosswordese. But I’ll never forget the name and placement of this bone, along with many others, solely because I went through a phase in high school where I downloaded apps to quiz myself on anatomy because I had been influenced by watching “Grey’s Anatomy” and wanted to be a doctor. That lasted until I took AP Bio my junior year and hated it, then did an internship at a hospital and… fainted my first time in an operating room. Glad I switched to law instead!
- I’m not sure I’ve had TETLEY (51D: Brand for a cuppa) tea before, even as a tea drinker. I’m more familiar with Bigelow or Lipton or Twinings if I want to get fancy. But I seem to be able to order TETLEY (51D) online, so I may have to try it and will report back!
- Speaking of sports… The US Track and Field Championships wrapped up last weekend with some incredible performances, including a 16-year-old who finished second in the 800m, setting a U-18 (and also collegiate) world record. There was drama with Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek, who pushed Lyles after losing to him in the 200m (there’s some behind-the-scenes drama there). Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone narrowly missed out on the American 400m record (her main event is the hurdles, where she already holds the world record). She’ll compete in the 400m at worlds and go for the American record again. Gabby Thomas, who won gold in the 200m at the Paris Olympics, made the team by finishing third, one-thousandth of a second ahead of fourth and two-thousandths of a second ahead of fifth. We like Gabby even though she went to a school whose name starts with H. We’re now just about six weeks away from the world championships.
And that's all from me, folks! Have a great August.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook]
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68 comments:
A nice downs-only Tuesday with some sparkle and humour. Loved Clare’s Willy Mays/ Satchel Paige reveries. So you got a baseball and your dad just got a wave. How painfully poignant.
As for Tetley tea, Clare, my wife and I like to tell the story of how during our 55+ year relationship she has drunk coffee exactly once - on a date with me - and I have drunk tea once on a date with her. Recently I have taken to having a cuppa once in a while and, while I really like a cup of light Darjeeling in the afternoon, I have been known to enjoy a mug of Tetley’s English Breakfast occasionally. She, having been raised under the wing of her somewhat snooty English grandmother, calls it “builders’ tea” but I like it for its straight forward orange pekoe robustness. Sort of like, in wine-speak, a Corbiere compared to a Tavel Rose.
A couple of queries: what exactly is *essential* about tea tree oil? And is a RIO really a body of water? A lago might be a *body* of water but not a river. Rio implies movement.
Easy-medium.
TEA TREE was it for WOEs.
No costly erasures although spelling TETLEY took a couple of tries.
Cute and smooth, liked it.
@Clare, thanks for the writeup. It's always nice to be reminded about what a great player Satchel Paige was.
Easy Tuesday.
Overwrites:
10D before reading the clue: SAVE SpACe before SAVES FACE
14A: lASE before TASE
53A: TEA rose before TREE
One WOE, @Clare 16A ARLO as clued
Speaking of sports and bragging about athlete encounters, at one point in my career I worked with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's Dad.
Cute idea - well filled for the most part. Like Claire - A CUTE ANGLE brought the widest smile. Straightforward enough to function well without a revealer.
Aimee Mann
USURP is on my Mt. Rushmore of words. SAVES FACE, DREAMT, FALCON are all top notch. Most of the trivia went right in - smooth grid.
Blue RODEO
Enjoyable Tuesday morning solve.
STEAL your face right off your head
I don't know. It's got an essence of something. I guess. But you're right: inquiring minds want to know.
I liked the puzzle: smooth, nothing really ugly, but I have to agree with Clare that ACORN SHELL is like "green paint" and for that reason misses the mark.
An above average Tuesday with a cute theme and fill that gets the job done. I liked SAVES FACE and STEAM ROOM - I also knew Satch and BETTE so I’m slowly inching my PPP-average up to the Mendoza Line.
I got the clever wordplay aspect of the theme, but didn’t fully discern the construct until I read Clare’s description. ACUTE ANGLE set the tone and was strong enough to carry the weaker ACORN SHELL to victory.
It took a while for the clue for RODEO to land - nice aha moment when I got it though.
“Essential oils” are concentrated liquids that contain chemical compounds from plants; they’re used for aromatherapy and in products such as soaps, incense, perfumes, etc.
The themers were too contrived for me. I wanted Descent of Man (the Darwin book and lack of scent) until I realized it wouldn't fit. And "ahead of its time" is the phrase you want
A/CORN SHELL is too forced for me. Unlike the other theme phrase pairs, ACORN SHELL and A CORN SHELL are not pronounced the same. They have different stress patterns, which also results in the initial A being pronounced (ACORN vs. A CORN).
"Essential" in its original sense, meaning "relating to an essence" - in this case, essence of tea trea.
ACORN SHELL is notably less in-the-language than the other themers (Hi, Clare). But I did enjoy the theme and the puzzle.
The dictionaries of the world continue not to recognize REAIR, reaired, reairing, etc.
Fun puzzle and even more fun write-up. One of the few puzzles I ever finished without having to go back and find an error or typo. The day is off to a good start!
On the easy side I thought. Clever theme, but I agree with Clare about ACORNSHELL, which no one says. I also had a beef with GAGREELS, because I think they’re more usually called ‘bloopers’ (the first thing I wrote in) or ‘outtakes’.
Decent enough theme, with mostly good theme entries, particularly ASCENTOFMAN and ACUTEANGLE. But is AHEADOFTIME really legit? AHEADOFonesTIME or AHEADOFtheirTIME, yes -- but AHEADOFTIME? Maybe it's just me.
I liked TETLEY crossing TEATREE and BOOT over RODEO.
Tadej PogaΔar just won his fourth Tour de France in six years, and Benko Pulko motorcycled enough miles to circumnavigate the globe four times and then some. What is it with Slovenians and their two-wheelers?
ACUTE theme -- with theme answers very well chosen and very well-clued. So well-clued, in fact, that I got all of them off just the first two -- or at most three -- letters. Which was pleasurable and made me feel smart.
The high point, I thought, was ASCENT OF MAN.
The biggest "Huh?" was TEA TREE. In no particular order: I didn't know that tea grew on trees, that tea was the source of an "essential oil" or that the tree was in the myrtle family.
I love this kind of wordplay puzzle even when it's early week and easy, and I found this rather delightful.
Hey All !
Different kind of puz. Sum up in one word: TuesPuz.
Two days in a row of A Themes. Will we get another tomorrow? Maybe a B theme?
Average time for me today. Decent fill, with the long Downs and longer Acrosses (besides the Themers).
Have a great Tuesday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
I share Clare's reaction to ACORNSHELL. Even after I had it filled in and it had to be right I was checking crosses because it's such an unlikely pair of words. The other themers at least made sense. Oh well.
Easy Tuesday, knew everything but ARIE and had STEAMBATH before STEAMROOM but that was it for do-overs. And of course any reference to Satchel PAIGE will make me smile.
OK Tuesdecito, GL and AE. I'm Guessing Lots of folks will find the ACORNSHELL Egregious,, unfortunately. Thanks for a medium amount of fun.
Falcon and Solo side by side and neither of the clues tied to Star Wars... Han Solo piloted the Millennium Falcon...
Here’s another one: Boxer’s mug - ABOUTFACE
@Les, I think when you see the section in some stores that have “essential oils” it is “essence of.”
Thank you for pointing that out!
There's Jacob Bronowski's book, The Ascent of Man.
I'm with others on finding this an unusually fine Tuesday puzzle - a clever theme and a wealth of fine entries elsewhere. Me, too, for enjoying writing in USURP, IMPETUS, ARDENT, STEAM ROOMS, GAG REELS, SAVE FACE.... About the ACORN SHELL - I agree it's an outlier, in its stress pattern and in its doubtful in-the-language status. In my world, acorns are more notable for their caps, which kill your feet when you step on them barefoot.
I was curious as to how the tea tree got its name, since I knew its leaves weren't used for the sort of tea one finds in a box of TETLEY. We can thank Captain James Cook for the misnomer, who, upon encountering the tree in Australia in the 18th c., attempted to brew tea from its leaves. The name certainly doesn't capture the range of uses the Aborignal people discovered for the tree. Full explanation here.
That's a cool connection. SM-L is one of the most astonishing athletes I've ever seen, and I've been watching sports obsessively since the early '70s.
1. Boxer's expression on fight day.
2. French goddess of the mouth.
3. A horse who hasn't won for a while.
Since Clare told her Willie Mays story, I get to tell mine. I was invited to sit in the owners box, which is actually a large indoor suite with windows facing the field, once while Bob Lurie owned the Giants. Willie Mays, who was certainly the best player ever, was a goodwill ambassador for the team and roamed around the box making small talk and signing autographs. He wasn't good at small talk, BTW, but just meeting him was such a thrill. When he got to me, I said, "Mr. Mays, the first major league game I ever saw was the first year the Giants moved into Candelstick and you hit two inside-the-park home runs. I was 6 years old." He said "You're mistaken. No one's ever done that." I insisted, but he didn't agree, and he just kept moving around. A couple of innings later he I felt a tap on the shoulder and it was a beaming Willie. "Hey, guess what? I had someone look it up. I did do that!"
I liked this puzzle, ACORNSHELL and all. Thanks, Gary Larson and Amy Ensz.
1. ABOUT FACE
2. AMUSE BOUCHE
3. AMOUNT DUE
@Sir Hillary: You, sir, are an idiot. Of course AHEADOFTIME is a real thing! You would do well to think harder AHEADOFTIME before posting nonsense like the above.
Good one about Slovenian bikers though!
π
Go Gotham FC!
In the process of reading a fascinating book, Dinner With King Tut. The author, Sam Kean, has an entire chapter on California Indigenous peoples eating acorns. So ‘acorn shell’ felt very natural to me.
Sorry about my seeming repeat of your "ABOUTFACE". I had submitted it before your post appeared.
A dead start to the day is always welcome
Or -
1. Pug mug
2. Malapropian Thalia, feeling fresher?
3. Expecting Ms. Ed
Hehe, cyoot account. I've one - Bob Hope sizes up my swing at the range and, after a cutting stroke crit, tells me to hang it up. The story improves with age.
This was cute & enjoyable. Especially SEWER LINES=SEAMS. Only thing that held me up was ACORN.
Thank you Amy & Gary :)
Thank you all for the explanation. How did I not know that?
ACUTETUESPUZ. Put up just about the right amount of fight, and definitely had some shades of humor. ASCENTOFMAN was a fave.
ACORNSHELL was a debut phrase and maybe had a slight tinge of Ow de Speration for findin a fourth themer of the right length. I'd grant that there are only so many A-words out there that will cooperate.
"Best" alternative that M&A DREAMT up: {Beaver Cleaver's dad turns up for the Beav's Emmy acceptance speech?} = ?*
staff weeject pick: OOH. Clue could be improved a bit, by changin "so" to "soo". Just sayin.
some fave stuff: SAVESFACE. IMPETUS. USURPS. DREAMT. SEAMS clue, "soo" version.
Thanx for gangin up on us, Ms. Ensz darlin & Mr. Larson dude. Way to AMASSMEDIA.
Masked & Anonymo4Us
p.s.
* = AWARDSHOWS. [Great, huh? ... yeah, didn't think soo.]
... voted a real biter pup, by test solvers ...
"Slide Rule" - 7x7 15 min. themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Clare captured my thoughts about the puzzle perfectly.
Willy Mays played here for 25 years and was covered exhaustively by the local press, but I had never heard that story with Sachel Paige before. Mays was 17 and playing in the Negro leagues.
My wife and I do Connections together every day. What a great puzzle. So we were blindsided yesterday by one of the foursomes. Words in a children's alphabet book. Terrible.
My husband and I went to a Salzburg game at Fenway Park in the late 50s or early 60s and saw Satchel Paige called in as a relief pitcher. It must have taken him 10 minutes to walk from the bullpen to the pitcher’s mound, with the crowd cheering him all the way. I think it may have been one of his last games and it was a thrill to have seen him.
Had no idea of the theme until I had made one pass thru the Acrosses and started on the Downs. At that point I had to erase DAD'S COLOGNE (Axe or Old Spice?) to make way for ASCENT OF MAN, and things fell into place. A few quibbles: Why make the Bette clue so easy by mentioning Midler? Why include "Let" in the clue "Let develop over time" (for AGE)?
I like the theme -- and in this case, I think it is better without a revealer. They reparsings of the theme answers were about as varied as you can get them giving the underlying constraint of the indefinite article.
I'm not sure about CREW. If you clue it as meaning posse, I think the custom is to misspell it -- crue, kroo, krewe, or something like that. I could be wrong.
I don't want to admit how much time I spent trying to figure out the longest key on a piano, rather than a typewriter.
I wasn't too happy about the repeated aquatic car-model names, but also having OCEANS did tie them together. And I liked the non-Guthrie ARLO, just for variety.
I've always assumed that an essence or essential oil is what you get by squeezing the leaves, or flower petals, or maybe the bark of a plant. I only got this one because tea tree oil is a common ingredient in shampoos. Fun fact: they have nothing to do with the trees tea comes from; those are camellias, not myrtles.
As a public service, let me post Satchell Paige's rules for a long and happy life here:
1. Avoid fried meats, which angry up the blood. 2. If your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts. 3. Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gently as you move. 4. Go very light on vices such as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful. 5. Avoid running at all times. 6. Don’t look back, something may be gaining on you.
I don't know what the original source for these is, but I've been hearing them since I was about 15.
ACORN SHELL is a reality for me - I was noticing the acorn crop on our closest oak tree, wondering how long it would be before we had ACORN SHELLs all over the yard, left over from the squirrels' insatiable appetites. Certainly they've been leaving walnut detritus everywhere. They eat them like I would eat an ear of corn, though they don't bother husking them.
I had TEA rose as a source of essential oil but couldn't think of a Chevy model that started with R.
So words that started with A yesterday and phrases today. What could be in store for tomorrow?
Thanks, Gary Larson and Amy Ensz!
1. Advice to a flat Earther?
or
Complete a lap?
2. Zest for smut?
3. Recess for guys only?
1. AROUND THE WORLD
or
AROUND THE TRACK
2. ACCRUED INTEREST.
3. AMEN CORNER
I share others sentiments that this ACUTE and well-constructed puzzle. I’ve never been a fan of watching baseball, but back when I was very young girl, even I knew that Satchel PAIGE, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris were the baseball wonders of the time.
I am a little surprised that more people aren’t familiar with TEATREE oil. Clare said it sounded old timey (and it was probably used by the people that Captain Cook met up with), but I think of it as a new-timey “herbal” rage. Among other things, they now use it for “foot soaks” as it is supposed to prevent athlete’s foot, as well as the use of the oil as a remedy or prevention for well…toenail fungus…hey…it’s NOT breakfast time. Trader Joe’s sells a TEATREE shower gel that I have. Smells nice and it kind of makes your skin tingle (with glee!) as you use it. Ok. This PSA on TEATREE is officially done.
Per George Will's book Men at Work, Mays would come up against a rookie in a game that was pretty much already won or lost and on purpose let the kid get him out. He knew that five years later (or whenever) he'd face him again when it mattered, and he knew the pitcher would remember the pitch he used to get Mays out and would turn to it again. Mays waited for it and this time sent it into the next county.
Clare: Crater Lake is prettier than Tahoe, IMO. If u haven’t been, worth the trip. Do the boat ride on the lake if available.
Thanks, Son Volt. I don't often click on song links but I just couldn't resist Blue Rodeo. Nice.
That was my initial reaction until I thought of something like this: "Departure will be at 9:00am but you should arrive AHEAD OF TIME to clear customs".
I thought the puzzle was CUTE, and for the most part very Easy. Now I spent Winter and Spring Quarters in Grantham, England, and was very familiar with TETLEY tea. It was heavily advertised, just like Lipton in the USA, and about as good -- or, really, not very good. I would, however, recommend Twining's, especially if you can still visit their home tearoom on Fleet St. And if you are buying tea to take home, Jackson's is very good too, as is the tea sold at that huge store all tourists, and many Britons, visit when they are in town.
Ahead of ITS time is a different phrase. When you are early for something you get there ‘ahead of time’. Is that a NY regionalism? Because its commonly used here. But as a lifelong NY State resident I’m sometimes struck by common (to me) phrases being unfamiliar to others and vice versa.
Salzburg?
For the second day in a row, a successful down clues only solve where the theme baffled me. I've also never heard of TEA TREE or ACORN SHELL which made me wonder if I got those right. Got there without cheating, though!
With your RIO question got me thinking because I have always thought of a river as a “body of water.” Apparently it is a “flowing body of water.”
Great Willie Mays story @egs!
Had I given it a bit more thought AHEAD OF TIME, I would not have dropped in SAUNA BATH at 33D with only the initial S in place.
I would call it an ACORN HULL but SHELL also fits. My issue with one of the themers was, after living in Tex-Mex Land (deep south TX) for three+ decades, I've never heard "Taco tortilla option" referred to as A CORN SHELL.
Jacob Bronowski titled his TV documentary series and later book ASCENT OF MAN as a nod to Darwin's "Descent of Man". Many of Darwin's legion of critics thought "Descent" meant a downward trend in the human condition, kind of a fall from grace, rather than Darwin's attempt to trace human origins. By the way, the subtitle of "Descent" is "Selection in Relation to Sex".
A long for the ride…love it!
Anonymous 7:14am
All four themers have the indefinite article or an unstressed a. And for me they are definitely, so I don’t agree with your criticism
Easy Ed
Typos
Well a typo is mostly the fault of the phone app (if you are doing it in the app): since I don’t care about statistics and streaks , sometimes I ignore typos. My rules a typo doesn’t = dnf.
Anyway,
MissScarlet
I assume blog name influenced by the TV show. Good one
Acorn shell seemed quite normal to me too. I remember there were a lot more oaks lining the streets of my city when I was young ( long time ago) and I remember lots of acorns, but also acorn shells. As an expression, I am sure I heard it. Clare being young has rarely seen oaks?
Loved the stories about Mays and Paige.
Since no one mentioned it, it is worth remembering that because of white nationalism for most of his career Paige was barred from the majors. With the current occupant of the White House systematically hollowing out civil rights legislation and regulations and censuring history books, I think facts like that are especially important now.
Liked the puzzle. Agree with a minority that acorn shell is fine.
Bad typo!! Red Sox. Sorry.
Great puzzle, and perfect write up
What’s wrong with acorn shell? It’s what the squirrel leaves behind. I must rake up hundreds of them every fall. Perfectly valid to me and not an unusual saying.
Do you want it in a flour tortilla or a corn shell? I heard that enough times. Pronouncing it as eh is optional.
Shouldn’t the clue for RIO have an indicator for Spanish? Or is there a Lake Rio I never heard of?
It's not a "saying" any more than "green paint" is a saying. Neither is "wrong" exactly; the trouble is that they are somewhat weak as standalone phrases for crosswords. Here is Rex Parker: "TALL WOMAN, for instance, is not a good puzzle answer. It's certainly a phrase one might say, but it doesn't have enough coherence, conceptually, to be a good crossword answer."
So next time you see Rex use the technical term "green paint", you'll know what he's talking about. (Compare "eat a sandwich", another crosswordese expression with a similar application.)
Te estΓ‘s poniendo mΓ‘s cΓ‘lida.
Hilarious little puzzle. I [kinda] SORTA loved it. I like the ones y'all DREAMT up today too. The STUB and STUD bookends were cute too. Always nice to be reminded of the Spanish Steps where we stayed in a B&B on our honeymoon.
People: 7
Places: 2
Products: 9
Partials: 1
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 20 of 76 (26%)
Funny Factor: 8 π€£
Tee-Hee: BRA. GAG REEL.
Uniclues:
1 The shorter leg on a one-legged cardinal at a priest convention.
2 Drinking vodka from a tube on the Mir.
3 Those cleaning out the stables.
4 Action after the clown loses the barrel and the bull evens the score.
5 Moments when I'm knocking out uniclues.
6 How every White House must feel.
7 Breathless final call from Jurassic Park tourist.
8 Who keeps everything important in place?
1 SYNOD STUD STUB (~)
2 SPACE BAR SORTA (~)
3 BOOT SMEAR CREW
4 CLOSE RODEO (~)
5 A HEAD OF ART TIME (~)
6 MAD AT GAG REELS
7 DINO ON ME, NO LIE
8 BRA STASIS GODS (~)
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Cadillac with a hero in the back seat. IDOL'S HEARSE.
¯\_(γ)_/¯
Rio Grand River
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