.png)
Ancient creepy-crawlies / FRI 9-19-25 / Ribbed silk material / Biker role in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" / "Moulin Rouge" co-star, 1952 / Classic lunchbox staple, informally / Lead-in to stratus or cumulus / Bring the receipts for, as they say / Lower than, on a score
Friday, September 19, 2025
Constructor: Erica Hsiung Wojcik
Relative difficulty: Medium
Word of the Day: FAILLE (40A: Ribbed silk material) —
Faille is a type of cloth with flat ribs, often made in silk. It has a softer texture than grosgrain, with heavier and wider cords or ribs. Weft yarns are heavier than warp, and it is manufactured in plain weaving. It was especially popular in the 19th century. // Faille was primarily made with silk, variations with cotton and wool were also there. A French silk variant was called ''Faille Francaise.'' The similar grosgrain has been described as a "firm, stiff, closely woven, corded fabric. The cords are heavier and closer than those in poplin, more round than those in faille." (wikipedia)
• • •
I do wish the marquee answers were a little more colorful overall, though. With the exception of TRILOBITES (17A: Ancient creepy-crawlies) and maybe GENTLE GIANT, the long stuff felt a little flat to me today. I also found a couple of the answers weirdly elusive because of that flatness, or vagueness. Could not find the handle on the ends of either BRING TO LIFE or BOOK REPORT. Had the BRING and ... nothing. Had the BOOK and ... nothing. For me to arrive at BOOK REPORT, something in the clue would've had to have suggested grammar school, or school in some way, because I've never heard of a "reader" writing a BOOK REPORT in any other context. As for the BRING answer ... BRING ABOUT, BRING TO PASS (?), BRING THE HEAT, BRING IT ON, BRING THE NOISE ... lots of BRING phrases were firing around in my head, but BRING TO LIFE was not one of them. That whole TO LIFE section was an ungentle giant of a mess for me. The clue for JOINED really really wants to be JOINTLY (31A: In tandem). "In tandem" feels like an adverb, JOINED an adjective. So that was weird. I've never started an email "HI, ALL," but then I try to avoid writing emails at all costs, especially "mass" ones. And FAILLE. Yeah, I "failled" to get that answer for sure. It's nearly impossible for me to keep all the crossword fabrics straight without constructors going and throwing another one on the PYRE. FAILLE hasn't made an NYTXW appearance since '07, my second year writing this blog, so clearly I have seen it before, but ... I forgive myself for forgetting it in the intervening 18 years. (Wow, that 2007 puzzle had "RETROCEDE" and "ARSENICAL" in it (alongside each other!), and took me something like a half hour to do!!)
Had pockets of trouble all over, including in the NW corner, where I did not recognize the "double" as baseball-related, and I could not get myself to accept SAND as an "it" (13D: It might be picked up from a trip to the beach), and the R&J quotation just wouldn't come. And then even more trouble around the REPORT part of BOOK REPORT and the adjacent SOTTO (29D: Lower than, on a score). I know the phrase "SOTTO voce," but that has nothing to do with "scores," at least in terms of how I've heard it used colloquially. I was not expecting an Italian word there. On the other side of the grid, something about the way IN ON was clue made it hard for me to get (30A: With (it)) that "biker role" from Rocky Horror seems ... niche (34A: Biker role in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"). I've never seen Rocky Horror, which seems bizarre considering how many damn movies I watch, but ... I dunno. No interest, despite my generally liking Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry. The only character I really know from that movie is JANET.
[OK, now I also know BRAD]
- 23A: One of four for a bat or a cat (FANG) — I would not have thought of cats as having FANGs ... until I acquired this giant Italian movie poster at auction and then had it framed and hung it above my desk here in my office just last week. As you can clearly see: FANGs!
- 14A: Fly me to the moon! (LUNAR PROBE) — cute clue. ("!" clues are meant to be taken very literally)
- 24A: "Moulin Rouge" co-star, 1952 (GABOR) — another movie puzzler for this movie fan. I know the stars of this century's' Moulin Rouge, but 1952!?!? That is not a famous movie. I'm stunned to find out it's a John Huston movie. I can name a bunch of John Huston movies. This is not one of them. I don't even know which GABOR we're dealing with here. I'm guessing ZSAx2 ... yes!
- 15D: Classic lunchbox staple, informally (PB AND J) — a great-looking answer; a fine addition to any grid. Crazy consonant juxtapositions. Love it.
- 1D: Lead-in to stratus or cumulus (ALTO-) — after CUMULO- I'm out. Not up on my cloud prefixes.
- 63A: According to experiments, they can't "sleep" in space (YO-YOS) — not up on my yo-yo lingo either. I feel like I learned everything I learned about YO-YOS during some brief weird fad in the '70s when I was in elementary school. And then I never thought about YO-YOS again. "Walk the dog" is a trick, I think. Maybe ... "around the world?" I kinda remember "sleep," I guess.
- 8D: Fin (ABE) — that is, a five-dollar bill. "Fin" was very popular, very common 20c. slang for a fiver. ABE ... wasn't. I've never seen a five-dollar bill called an ABE anywhere outside of crosswords.
That's it, see you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
=============================
❤️ Support this blog ❤️:
✏️ Upcoming Crossword Tournaments ✏️
- Midwest Crossword Tournament (Chicago) (Sat., Oct. 4, 2025)
- Finger Lakes Crossword Competition (Ithaca) (Sat., Oct. 18, 2025)
📘 My other blog 📘:
- Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)
Save And Share :
39 comments:
Medium Friday.
Overwrites:
MOoN before MORN at 18A
anNE before JANE at 20A
EjectS before EXPELS at 42D
WOEs:
Not familiar enough with music scores to know SOTTO (29D)
I've seen RHPS but didn't remember EDDIE the biker at 34A
Not familiar with FAILLE material (40A)
Never heard of WEIRD FLEX BUT OK (44A). Thanks for the background, @Rex
Tennis player SLOANE Stephens a 49A
A couple of Friday-level difficulty multipliers like magniloquence,TRILOBITES, FAILLE, MAUS and “DURA mater” to spice this one up - along with a few things to keep it lively.
I enjoyed seeing old friend OONA again, which seems crosswordese from yesteryear, and I did remember The Loaf as EDDIE in Rocky Horror. And to me the highlight was the clue “Ordered clubs, for example” for ROYAL FLUSH, which to my ear sounded wonderfully Robynesque.
A mixture of fun stuff and some Friday crunch - a thumbs up for me.
Another great review. Loved WEIRD FLEX BUT OK. Have been a silent reader from the UK for years and I must say you and your blog gives me some hope despite the dark moment the US is in. Fantastic cat poster!
Careful. I would not be surprised at all if the government now tried to do away with your blog and imprison you for your statement about the all powerful and fair minded Kennedy. You are spreading false news about this expert on all things related to health.
Amen
Workmanlike late week puzzle. Agree with the big guy on the lack of anything overly snazzy - but it’s generally clean and slick. I liked LUNAR PROBE, BEHIND THE TIMES and TURNS LOOSE. Overall fill is scrabbly - I think a Q and Z away from a pangram.
Pantagruel’s Nativity
Rex - you’re really not missing much with Rocky Horror. I never liked it but had friends who would go to the midnight show on Friday’s and participate.
A lot of the trivia here I had to back into. GABOR, SLOANE, EFRON are all known to me but I needed sufficient crosses to get them. GESTATE is awkward here - like the TROJAN trivia.
Sitting plush with a ROYAL FLUSH
Enjoyable Friday morning solve.
Ray LaMontagne
RHPS is awesome
On the Rockford Files once Jim was basically asking how much of a bribe would be enough. His first (low) offer was a Lincoln, which is the other half of ABE. The counter was a Jackson; they settled on a Hamilton.
quite challenging.
Seemed easy at first, but then reality hit. Never heard of TRILOBITES, or WEIRDFLEX, or FAILLE, or the book MAUS. I've had cats all my life, but never saw one with a FANG. Just too hard, so I cheated (a lot) to finish it.
Weitdflexbutok? Never heard that one. Never heard of cat fangs either. Didn’t enjoy this puzzle.
I agree with SouthsideJohnny: "A mixture of fun stuff and some Friday crunch," plus I learned "magniloquence" (can't wait to brag about knowing what that means) and "faille" and why yoyos can't sleep in space. It's because they need gravity to "fall" to the end of the string. In space's microgravity, there's no force to pull the yo-yo to the string's end and keep it spinning.
Crossword superstar Paolo Pasco Jeopardy watch, day seven ...
Victory number seven for Paolo, who pulled away from the other players with a strong second half. Could not be caught in Final Jeopardy, in which the clue was "He became the first person to win both an Olympic medal and an Academy Award thanks to a short film he made about his sport". (Answer in reply.)
I like how Paolo stays cool even when he's behind. I also like how well he represents our glorious pastime. His winnings are now $195,717. Go Paolo!
Final Jeopardy answer: "Who is Kobe Bryant?"
I knew that line but I had no idea it had come from Sarah Schauer: you learn something every day.
Lots of the same sticking points as Rex, but some were not hard to guess, like GABOR and MAUS, FANGS. I had a lot of trouble with SOTTO, because my mind was stuck on game scores, not musical scores. Have never heard the phrase WEIRDFLEXBUTOK, glad to learn it!
I write HIALL to group emails all the time! And I’m pretty amazed Rex has never watched Rocky Horror. No dressing up at midnight and yelling lines at the screen? I even saw it on stage in London once.
SOTTO (29D: Lower than, on a score) - as in lower than on a MUSIC score
ps Rock Horror is worth it for Tim Curry alone. He is extraordinary.
I've really enjoyed Paolo's performance at Jeopardy--so calm. Nice to know him from solving his puzzles too... makes us feel like his secret fan club, right?
Really well done puzzle. Would love to see more from this constructor.
Good, tough Friday, like we used to get before the war.
As is often the case, Rex's favorite thing (WEIRD FLEX BUT OK) is my least favorite. I vaguely knew the phrase; I just don't like it. Meanwhile, ALTO and YOYOS were gimmes.
Clue for ROYAL FLUSH was a hall of famer. I just wish my brain had not been primed to think of cards by I RAISE, which made it easier than it should have been.
EDDIE's "Hot Patootie" is one of several surprisingly good songs in Rocky Horror.
25 minutes for me, so that puts it up into Medium-Challenging for me on a friday. Had to parse out the woe "WEIRDFLEXBUTOK", which was great. Enjoyed the repeat clues about being out of it. Also loved LUNARPROBE and GENTLEGIANT. Same experience as @REX on the ends of BRINGTO... and BOOKRE.... (had REview before REPORT). SLOANE was a complete woe, so had to parse it together from the crosses. Figured MArS was the novel but that really messed up the end of the WEIRDFLEX.... was thinking about BRO... or something. Couldn't remember if it was SOTTO or SOTTe. Eventually tried a bunch of different things and remembered the book MAUS and --ding--happy music. Thanks, Erica, for a fun and different (and pretty challenging) Friday! : )
One of the pleasures of crosswords is how the answers ping different areas of the brain, bringing it to life.
Today it pinged history, sports, arts, biology, cards, food. It also triggered images and memories – GABOR, sleeping YOYOS, school DESKs of my youth, the taste of PB&J’s, and beautiful swirly SARIs.
My TIL was learning STEAM is the familiar term STEM to which “arts” has been added.
Especially lovely today were the serendipitous PuzzPairs©:
• RAISE / ROYAL FLUSH
• BRAG / WEIRD FLEX BUT OK
• SARI / backward GARB
• FLUSH crossing LOO
May I add that gorgeous answers BRING TO LIFE, TRILOBITES, and GENTLE GIANT are NYT debuts?
And props to Erica for keeping the number of three-letter answers -- which are usually uninteresting -- to single digits.
A quality feel throughout. A themeless puzzle with an underlying theme of pleasure, starting my day with an ahhh. I loved this. Thank you, Erica!
My first encounter with WEIRD FLEX . . . and more than grateful for Rex’s explication de texte. Ha!
“SOTTO voce” is a term sometimes seen in music scores.
Ditto Southside Johnny: fun and crunchy puzzle. Loved it.
HI ALL !
Put up resistance, but was able to finish with no cheats. I had @Anonymous from YesterComments on the ole brain when I got stuck in the Center-East. Was about to Goog an answer, but persevered and fettered everything out.
Misdirectional clue for ROYAL FLUSH, thinking the clue, Ordered clubs, meant ordering lunch (club sandwiches), or buying golf clubs online, or something. Ordered, as in - in order. Nice.
Wanted BRAFF before EFRON, but BRAFF is a Zack, not a Zac. There's also Zach Galifianakis, but his name was a touch too long. 😁
Well, enough HODGEPODGE outta me.
Have a great Friday!
Four F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Loved the clue on ROYALFLUSH, threw me for a second before it clicked. WEIRDFLEXBUTOK felt very fresh, in general the cluing for this puzzle was very much on my wavelength! Breezy Friday with a few snags (had never heard of FAILLE but the crosses were all doable)
FLEX?? WTF is FLEX?
Uhhh go watch RHPS right now
Today's was about 6 million times more satisfying than yesterday's.
I actually know, and like, the phrase "weird flex but ok". But when you squeeze the words together like this, it seems to say "weird flex, buttock" to me. As if I had a butt spasm going. (Checks) Blimey. I do!
A nice clue for BEHINDTHETIMES would have been [Sulzberger family].
I forget, how many megabytes are in a TRILOBYTE?
Tricycle accidents almost always ENDOW.
What did the fetus say when offered a PBANDJ? No thanks, I GESTATE.
Wasn't Phyllis Diller's husband FANG?
This was a real pleasure to solve. Great clues, little goo. A bunch of crunch. Thanks, Erica Hsiung Wojcik.
Not a criticism of this perfectly good Friday but a tough one for me, more like a medium slog. Not the puzzle’s fault, I just never could get any momentum anywhere. But at least RP didn’t call it easy. Unlike him, 44A was not something I enjoyed seeing. In fact, if I was starting a WOE Hall of Fame, it would be my first nomination. Sounds like a pop culture version of the time-honored “bless your heart.”
Picture of person flexing their muscles, as a way to show off to others.
Speaking of FLEX, this felt like a Saturday. Very much agree about the cluing for JOINED. Really liked the clue/answer for BARFLY!
Bob, you should read MAUS. Oddly, I got it from library after seeing it mentioned in a past NYT puzzle (more than 10 years ago). It’s a graphic novel, but fabulous. Also it’s based in truth.
I agree on Tim Curry!
As a musician, got the score angle right away, but have never know SOTTO to be "lower than". It is usually (always?) paired with "voce" to mean "in a low or soft voice". I see that sotto by itself can mean under, below, beneath - so technically correct, but referencing in a score is misleading.
I read Reader's Digest as the publication, but now see the small d in digest. I wanted some kind of summary or recap. Nice misdirect, I guess.
Faille crossing Hiall is interesting visually.
Funny that I remember when Michael got the Gato poster - he got that framed up way faster than it would happen in our household. Come to think of it, we have zero framed movie posters, only original art - just unintentionally went from WEIRDFLEX to HUMBLEBRAG
Haha on the buttock, and I agree! And yes…FANG was Phyllis Diller’s husband. (Or a caricature of a husband)
WEIRD....BUT OK sat in my grid unfinished because I couldn't cough up the EX part of EXPELS and didn't know FAILLE (and I thought I knew most types of fabric so humph.) Plus I've never heard the 44A phrase before.
Silly error of the day, ADVERbS before ADVERTS with much head-scratching as to how "spots" becomes adverbial.
YOYOS, sleep, space, these words don't belong in one sentence in my world. Still ignorant on that one even after Googling, post-solve.
All in all, a tough Friday for me, which is a nice change. Thanks, Erica Hsiung Wojcik!
My experience: it was quite challenging, the hardest Friday I've seen in quite some time. The marquee answer WEIRD FLEX, BUT OK: first time seeing it, and it was hard putting all that together. Lots of misdirection, ROYAL FLUSH being a prime example. Another was POD for "way out in space", with "way" being a noun, not an adverb (so in other words, a way to get out in space, and still POD isn't the first word that comes immediately to my mind). YOYOS came from somewhere way out in space as well, almost the last thing I would associate with sleep (although I get it, thanks). Had to get it from crosses. I was slow assembling the vowels in BUOY. I was trying to think of something acne-related for those British spots. FAILLE, new to me as well. MOoN before MORN (I mean, why not?). I also had a tough time seeing BRING TO LIFE. Next to it, P B AND J, four short words in six letters, also tough to see at first. GABOR -- I'll take your word for it. (Was thinking maybe cABOt, as in Sebastian.) I only know the Moulin Rouge with Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. I don't watch as much TCM as some of y'all.
The relatively mild reaction to the level of difficulty of today's makes me think I'm an outlier here. But solving it felt like a real victory, so thanks for the workout, Erica Hsiung Wojcik (quite the intriguing and hard-to-spell name!). The puzzle was well-executed. Just hard, is all.
Where is Nancy????‼️‼️
Post a Comment