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Protein in a niçoise salad / WED 9-2-25 / School within both Princeton and Carleton? / Console for the game Pitfall! / Reason for a tucked tail, perhaps
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Constructor: Michael B. Berg
Relative difficulty: Easy (5:24)
THEME: ZHUZH UP — Fancify … or a phonetic hint to 17-, 23-, 50- and 62-Across
Regular words get the "zh" sound added to them to make wacky phrases
There's something a little unsatisfying about the fact the word is spelled with a "zh" but all the theme answers use "ge" to make that sound. I wonder if it could have been possible to get any theme answers with a French-ish "j" into the puzzle? I'm bad at brainstorming this kind of thing though. "Add a letter" is way easier to brainstorm than "add a sound." Sound off in the comments with any ideas!
Bullets:
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Theme answers:
Word of the Day: GENA (Rowlands of "A Woman Under the Influence") —
Hi squad, and welcome to a Malaika MWednesday! This is a fun one for me, because it's actually Wednesday!! Usually I do these write-ups on Tuesday at around 11pm or just before midnight, and then schedule the post, because I don't wake up early. But I'm in London right now, writing this leisurely at 8:45am, and you will all see it when you wake up. By the way, if there's anything you think I should do in London, Madrid, Paris, or the Canary Islands, please let me know in the comments :)
- [Neutral shade in some Florida décor?] for TAMPA BEIGE
- "zh" gets added to "Tampa Bay"
- [Lighthearted invitation for joining one's sled team?] for SKIP TO MY LUGE
- "zh" gets added to "skip to my Lou"
- [Headline during a zombie attack?] for THE DEAD SIEGE
- "zh" gets added to "The Dead Sea"
- [Price of makeup at the dollar store, informally?] for BUCK A ROUGE
- "zh" gets added to "buckaroo"
Word of the Day: GENA (Rowlands of "A Woman Under the Influence") —
Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (June 19, 1930 – August 14, 2024) was an American actress, whose career in film, stage, and television spanned nearly seven decades. She was a four-time Emmy Award and two-time Golden Globe winner, and she was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.She rose to prominence for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both of which earned her Oscar nominations. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night (1977).
• • •
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| It's raining here, of course! |
This is a pretty standard "add a sound" theme. I'm not a fan of themes where the entries are "wacky." I just don't really think they're funny. (I didn't think they were funny in this puzzle either, alas.) But this puzzle has two things going for it-- first, there is a reason for the wack-ification. The revealer indicates that we are "upping" the instances of that sound in these phrases. Second, this is an interesting phrase! In the Crossword Forum that I'm in, people have discussed the spelling of this one before, and I'm pretty sure we all agreed on what we see here in the grid. It's fun to see in a puzzle, with those Z's and H's.
(Other phrases that I've thought about the spelling of-- "sesh," as in "jam sesh" and "hun" (or is it "hon"??) as the abbreviated "honey.")
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| Merriam Webster seems to agree on the spelling, btw |
There's something a little unsatisfying about the fact the word is spelled with a "zh" but all the theme answers use "ge" to make that sound. I wonder if it could have been possible to get any theme answers with a French-ish "j" into the puzzle? I'm bad at brainstorming this kind of thing though. "Add a letter" is way easier to brainstorm than "add a sound." Sound off in the comments with any ideas!
Bullets:
- [A half-filled auditorium, per Robert Frost] for HELL — I had not heard this quip before, and I think it is very funny!
- [Pair of cymbals with a foot pedal] for HI HAT — Whenever I see this word, without fail, I think about the opening lines of Buffalo Stance-- "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the hi-hat!"
- [World's most-watched television franchise, informally] for IDOL — What???? For real???? This isn't like.... Dragon Ball or something???
- [Greeting that becomes another greeting if you add an A at the front and reverse it] for HOLA — How do y'all feel about clues like this? I think I like them. They're almost like logic puzzles. But I know some people who really hate them.
- [Fairy tale baddie] for OGRE — In slang right now, "baddie" means super hot girl, and this clue cracked me up.
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142 comments:
Easy, solved without reading the theme clues. No overwrites.
Two WOEs:
Niecy NASH (10A), whom I should know from crosswords
I didn't know that Robert Frost called a half-filled auditorium HELL (47A)
Caught on to the trick quickly, but needed look-ups to get KATZ and ZHUSHUP. Malaika is right that the "--GE" sounds have no relationship with ZHUSHUP, which spoiled the puzzle for me. A clever idea, badly executed.
Also, LOTR should have been clued as an abbreviation (for "Lord of the Rings"). Not everyone on the planet is a Tolkien addict.
Idea for Paris: The virtual reality exhibit at Notre Dame. Enter by going down the stairs at the corner in front. Much easier to get into than Notre Dame itself. Tons of fun and very informative.
ZHUZH UP??? never have I ever. WTH.
London recommendation: read a primer that goes into a bit of detail about how Turing figured out how to decode Enigma messages, and then head to Bletchley Park to take a close look at the Bombe Machine in operation.
When I hit the first themer, TAMPA BEIGE, I thought we might have a switch-the-color theme and a reference to the blues musician Tampa Red. Boy, I said to myself, that’s a pretty obscure cultural reference for a Wednesday. And of course, it would have been. Anyway, it started some great music playing in my head.
And thank you, crosslandia, for teaching me how to spell ZHUZH, an even more obscure cultural reference, at least for me.
How can you do this puzzle if you are not familiar with the word ZHUZH? And why is ZH the same as GE? I didn’t really get this one.
My oh my, Malaika: 5:24! Truth be told: I rarely get that even on Mondays (poor typing skills, I guess). The revealer is a phrase I barely recognize, and those Zs really held me up (I thought KATZ might have been KAT's or something, and I had forgotten the name of the anti-HIV drug). I also misspelled SACHA as SAsHA, and NASH as NASt (thinking at first that tORSo was the thing you mounted, as one mounts sculptures), costing still more precious nanoseconds. I sometimes feel like the eponymous Murphy of Murphy's law.
Anyhow, I liked the puzzle. The themed answers are playful. Like you, I liked the Robert Frost quote very much (to myself: it's HELL you nitwit, not HaLL), and POP THE HOOD has a nice snappy immediacy to it.
The answer to your question is: it's American IDOL. No, I haven't seen or heard it shortened to IDOL either; I just inferred it. I haven't tuned into that show in a very long time.
Oh, and you had another question, about HOLA. Eh, I don't mind them at all; they're a little reminiscent of the puzzles that appear in cryptics. One thing that diminishes my pleasure is the knowledge that Rex and other commenters will make fun of them as the type of puzzle one sees on a child's placemat in a restaurant as the little tyke waits for his chicken tenders and fries and small soda, but I try to ignore that sort of noise.
@BobMills It's an acronym not an abbreviation, like NASA.
Speaking of ATE UP, I’m still laughing over a line I read from a recent movie review. I’m sharing it because I hope it brightens your day as much as it did mine.
The review was a dire pan, and here’s the line: “People are going to want to walk out of this movie even when it is shown on airplanes.”
Every time I hear the word HI HAT it makes me think of the movie Millers Crossing.
Definitely elicited a chuckle -- thanks! I'll remember that one.
Hey All !
Have fun on your trip, Malaika. I'll live vicariously through you, as I'm not a traveler. Say Cheerio to someone for me!
ZHUZH has been getting it's two minutes of fame lately. I've been hearing it said a few times here and there.
The Themers were at least clued as what the answers are, not as the base phrase, like TAMPA BAY, City in Florida. I'm not explaining it correctly, but hope you know what I'm talikin' 'bout.
Nice way to handle the Z's, confine them in a tight space.
Took a sec to see RED ANTS, was looking at it as RE DANTS. I was wondering what DANTS were ...
Decent WedsPuz. Couple of UP, includes Revealer. Rex would've definitely mentioned that. Funny clue for ONE IOTA.
Have a great Wednesday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Well, ya learn something new every day. I always thought Zhush was Yiddish in origin, turns out it's Polari from the UK ... which is a language subset of theatre slang and Cockney rhyming and gay terms.
I hadn't heard of it either but this story in the NYT gives the history:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/style/jeuje-zhoosh-zhuzh.html
Had it been a regular write-up from Rex, I'm sure he would have covered and commented on this background.
Oh man, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get on an airplane again without remembering that line!
These puzzles are getting easier and easier.
I heard someone use the phrase ZHUZH UP recently enough that it was recognizable, which helped with this one quite a bit - I was also willing to live with the “ZH” vs. “GE” inconsistency as close enough, thus allowing me to enjoy the solve. I like it when I get the theme construct and it actually helps me land some of the later answers, as was the case today. I give this one a thumbs up - much better than the stunt puzzles that we had in recent weeks.
Well, I love wordplay and I love the zh sound, so this theme hit my happy button.
There were ancillary pleasures as well. That lovely phrase POP THE HOOD. That sweet dook REDANTS. Having “Rit”, a word I haven’t seen since childhood, pop into my head as if I used it yesterday. Seeing TAPTAP backwards and imagining someone saying, “There, there.”
So, thumbs up.
Props to Michael for coming up with this collage of theme answers and getting them to fit puzzle symmetry. That had to be tough, truly, try coming up with more. My favorite was THE DEAD SIEGE because of its perfect clue [Headline during a zombie attack?].
In case you’re wondering, and I’m sure you are, the theme sound – that ZH as in Zhivago – is called a voiced postalveolar fricative, as I learned post-puzzle. I love the beauty it adds to our language in words such as corsage, mirage, massage, and genre.
As well as in the phrase joie de vivre, which is what you brought to the box today, Michael. Thank you!
For CT2 Napa: If LOTR is an acronym, it should have been clued as one. Any acronym, viz. NASA or SCUBA, should be easy to pronounce, and LOTR certainly isn't. The assumption here is that "everybody" reads Tolkien's work.
SOUPE DU GEORGE for a French theme answer?
Go to The Dennis Seaver House in London.
I think if the late Pope Francis were asked about this puzzle, he would say, “Who am I to zhuzh?”
Do you like green eggs with zhouzh?
I do not like them Sam you douche
Try zhouch, try it, you will see
I never knew zhouzh sounded like “ge”
Would you like zhouzh with a Rit?
I’ll die before, you bloody twit
Would you eat zhouzh in a Katz?
Natick city, I’ll eat my hatz
I got it, but this puzzle was not for me
Isn't siege pronounced seej and not seezh?
@CT2Napa: really? Do people actually pronounce it as a word, like "lotter"? I would have considered it neither an abbreviation nor an acronym, but an initialism.
I’ve never read the books or seen the movies, but I’m well aware of what LOTR means.
It’s been in the puzzle before, and has been in use for 20? years at least. I remember hearing it on the original version of Queer Eye in the early 2000s.
Just waiting for the comments from people who have never heard of zhuzh, despite 1) it having been in the NYTXW before and 2) having been common slang for most of this millennium.
Just saw that line in a Frank Bruni column, it was suggested by a reader.
When you do an oil change, you only pop the hood at the end, no? First, you go under the car and drain the oil and only afterwards you pop the hood to pour in the new oil. So I think the clue for 28 down is imprecise.
It’s a nit but I’m going to pick it. There’s no NYC deli named KATZ. There is a Katz’s. The clue should’ve been “NYC deli eponym” or some-such.
Buy “Walks in Hemingway’s Paris” by Noel Fitch and do some walking down literary memory lane. Have a sandwich and a glass of wine at Les Deux Magots.
The stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, and sorbet from Berthillon
Hand up for thinking a half-filled auditorium might be a HALL, which made the REDANTS impossible to see, which is how I like my REDANTS anyway. Did seem a little tepid for Mr. Frost. My bad. Also had PEACE for the two in a hand thing, PEACE symbol. Uh, no. Ms. NASH a no-know, really the only unknown proper, which is rare.
ZHUZHU I may have seen once and it was the obvious revealer but the last thing in. probably because spelling it was guesswork.
Nice enough Wednesday, MBB. I Might Be Biased because I like this sort of thing, but thanks for all the fun.
Madrid stuff-The Prado, of course. For fun find one of the mesones in old Madrid, stay out late, and go for chocolate and churros at 4AM. You'll have lots of company.
JUST NOUGHE
London: Tate Modern, on the south end of the pedestrian bridge from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Great adaptive reuse of industrial space, and interesting what artists can do if they have vast spaces available to them.
@pablo -- Yes, that's where I saw it as well.
Oh, I love that! A good laugh to start the day. Thanks for sharing.
What a fun puzzle! After getting TAMPA BEIGE (after first trying TAMPA TAUPE), I looked forward to the other themers and was not disappointed. The fill was quite easy; I knew Bob and Willy and Gena and Sacha; just didn't know Niecy NASH, but he was easily gotten from the crosses. It was the theme that made this one so ZHUZHY! Thanks, Michael Berg.
Stumptown Steve that is hilarious
I've just read Malaika's comments and many of the ones that came before mine. I think everyone woke up in a crabby mood this morning if they can't appreciate the humor in SKIP TO MY LUGE and (my favorite) BUCKAROUGE! The SH "Zhivago" sound is exactly like the GE "Beige" sound...these answers were so clever. I think the puzzle was perfectly executed. Bravo!
Paris: Sainte-Chapelle, especially on a sunny day. I will never forget the feeling of coming out of the dark, steep, windy staircase into a riot of glorious color; heavenly. Also, if you’re into all things Roman, Arènes de Lutèce, a tiny Roman amphitheater tucked into the heart of Paris.
The relationship is that the GE and ZH sounds sound exactly alike! That's what made it so good, in my view. Also, you don't need to be a Tolkien addict to know LOTR, and it's in crosswords often.
Marge: Homer, what's that awful fake department that Trump has Musk running?
Homer: DOGE!
It was heartbreaking to hear Taylor Fritz last night utter that cry of defeat, "I LOST!" after succumbing to Djokovic.
Blatant dupe to have HIHAT crossing HITON. Is a HITON the opposite of a lo ton?
Whenever I feel like potato curry I look for ALOO, cuz I know what's coming next.
Sean Connery would have had a blasht with this one. Thanks, Michael B. Berg.
An entertaining Wednesday with a mostly fun THEME and my first ever introduction to ZHUZH UP. It reminded me of an episode of Sex And The City where the ladies debated whether a relationship can survive without the Zsa Zsa Zsu.
If LOTR is referred to by its letters, like FBI, and not as a separate word, like NATO, it's an initialism, not an acronym.
London: the Globe theatre. If you go and get a seat, rent a cushion. If standing, I don’t know if umbrellas are allowed.
yes
Thanks for the Zhivago reference. I was trying to think of something for comparison and that’s perfect.
That's not the only way to read the clue. I might agree if it read "Name of a NYC deli". But the most you can infer from the clue as written is that it's a name associated with a NYC deli.
Re: POP THE HOOD. I heard my mechanic had become addicted to brake fluid. I said, "Marvin, that's dangerous." He said, "Don't worry, I can stop whenever I want to."
Kept thinking of "Give it some zazz" from The Prom all throughout this puzzle.
The London Transport Museum (https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/) is very cool if, like me, you are really into public transit and its history. It's been years since I've been there, but I remember there being a great exhibit about how the London Underground map developed over several years.
Borough Market is always good for wandering around and eating delicious things.
If you like beer, then you should check out The Kernel Brewery (https://www.thekernelbrewery.com/tap.php).
My first thought for Frosts' half full theater was fuLL. I figured he also liked to spread out.
Other whoopsie was thinking Tate Modern was a font. Something like computer modern, I supposed.
Overall a fun puzzle!
London - Gordon's Wine Bar (Embankment)
Paris - bakeries/patisseries near Rue Montorgueil just north of Les Halles metro (Copains, Stohrer, Lebanese ice cream at Baltis)
With no idea of what was coming, I took TAMPA BEIGE literally. Somehow it didn't have the je ne sais quoi of Kelly green or fire engine red. "Sounds dreary," I thought. "Don't think I want to live in Tampa."
Of course I don't want to live in Tampa anyway.
When the theme, such as it is, became clear to me, it felt arbitrary. Why is there that added sound -- nothing to justify it other than ZHUZH UP. Is that a real phrase? Does it mean hush up? Does it mean shush up?
And is there anything in this puzzle more totally baffling than BUSKA ROUGE?
To me, the revealer in this puzzle is SLANG. Somehow the puzzle felt full of it.
A less boring clue than "Discover by chance" for HIT ON would be "Flirt with."
Also, is a cad who strikes his girlfriend from Bangkok a THAI slapper?
My guess is that IDOL referrs to the world wide franchise. I can remember how many of these they have, but it is a lot.
Think beizh, luzh. The sounds are the same.
Lewis, do tell us what movie the reviewer was referring to!
LOL. Better than the puzzle!
"And is there anything in this puzzle more totally baffling than BUSKA ROUGE?" I made the same mistake, with the same level of bafflement, before realizing that the name is spelled SACHA.
This is CrossWorld bro (or sis) - you’re looking for a level of precision that’s just not that commonplace around here (plus, I disagree with your premise, as I always pop open the hood and locate the oil filter so I have a game plan in mind).
Idea for Paris: Albert Kahn Foundation. Beautiful themed gardens (Japanese, English, naturalistic French regional forest-like). Archives of the Planet, photography from 1900s-1930s of people and places all around the world, taken by a team whom Kahn sent to document ways of life that might (and many did) disappear later.
@Whatsername - I picked it up from Lewis's 7:50 a.m. comment. ;-) And of course I meant the ZH sound, not SH.
Idea for London: lunch at Harrods Food Hall in the basement of the store in Knightsbridge. Great food/drink selections, reasonably priced. While you're there, check out the mini-museum to Princess Diana (Dodi's father own(s)(ed)(?) Harrods). And the store itself is a trip.
"ZHUSH"??!!
I think it depends on your dialect. Either sounds acceptable to me.
BUCKEROO! BUCKEROO! Change your S and your A.
Is it just me, or does anyone else get the suspicion that a lot of these constructors are starting to discover "Uh-oh -- this is getting too easy!," and then rather than do the work of concocting some legitimately challenging and inventive wordplay, they're just tossing in a few names, brand names, acronyms, and other trivia-test ephemera to make the puzzle look "challenging" without adding any appreciable substance?
There's Turing-related art at Paddington Station too!
Yeah, ok.
London: take a walking tour with London Walks (walks.com). I thought the Inns of Court walk was fascinating, but there are many others to choose from.
Paris: take a food walking tour with Paris by Mouth (parisbymouth.com). I did the Latin Quarter walk, and thought it was terrific. Not inexpensive, but you won’t need dinner that evening.
Pretty Wednesdayish Wednesday. Enjoyed solving it with, of course, reservations.
First of all, could someone please stop Will Shortz from using those “add a letter and turn the word around to make a different word” kind of clues. There’s a difference between amusing and annoying. (39D ALOHA).
28D asks for a preparatory step for an oil change. POPping THE HOOD is probably not that step. If you just want to check your oil you would POP THE HOOD to do so. If you are committed to changing your oil your first step is to get under your vehicle with an oil collection pan of suitable capacity and a long handled socket wrench and drain the old oil. Only then do you really need to open the hood in order to locate and change your filter and fill up with fresh oil. (It’s a given that you’ve replaced the plug. You did replace the plug, didn’t you?)
Though I’ve never seen the dragon training film I like the fresh clue for 29A EELS.
What the hell is this “sandwich knife” cited in the 31D PUN clue? I have a lot of knives, some of them old=school German and French chef’s knives and tranchers, some of them Japanese hand forged Bunkas and Gyutos (my fave). And a Santoku that I only use for slicing tomatoes. And even though I have a pretty good serrated bread knife I don’t think that’s what’s meant by a sandwich knife. Help me out here. I may have to get one.
Loved the theme. ZHUZHUP is about as sparkly as it gets. Well done Michael B. Berg. BUCKAROUGE was my fave.
Easy-medium. It took me a few nanoseconds of post solve staring to fully grasp the theme, but not getting the theme didn’t affect my solve very much.
No WOEs and no costly erasures if you don’t count a couple of tries at spelling ZHUZHUP.
Smooth grid, whimsical theme, fun puzzle, liked it.
Found this online:
A deli knife, also known as a sandwich knife, is designed to cut through a thick sandwich without causing the bread to become compressed or the meat to tear apart. By using a deli knife, a cook can cut sandwiches into halves or even into quarters in the case of club sandwiches. Using a standard kitchen knife to cut a sandwich often leads to disaster, as the bread resists the smooth cutting edge and the cook must put significant downward pressure on the handle. This could lead to a serious accident if the blade should slip, or at least turn the sandwich into a unpresentable mess.
A deli knife is designed with an offset blade, which means the blade section is lower than the handle. You should be able to recognize a deli knife immediately by this offset blade, which few other knives utilize. Because the blade of a deli knife is set lower than the handle, the cook gains more leverage and requires less pressure to slice through the various layers of the sandwich. Another advantage of an offset blade is that the cook's knuckles remain higher than the bottom of the knife. This can make a difference in knife control as the cook's hand draws closer to the cutting board.
Another design feature of a deli knife is a slightly serrated blade. The cook can use a sawing motion to slice through the bread and fibrous meat layers, but also use a downward pressing motion to slice through the softer layers. A deeply serrated knife would most likely damage the softer condiments, while a smooth knife would not be able to slice through the grain of many sandwich meats. A deli knife makes slicing sandwiches easier by offering the advantages of both worlds.
Deli knives are produced in a number of sizes, but the most popular size for deli or kitchen use features an 8 inch blade.
In London, have breakfast at Dishoom. Also, we had no intention of going to the Churchill War Museum (or whatever it’s called), but were in the neighborhood with some extra time and skipped the line by buying tickets on our phone. Short version, it was FASCINATING.
@Anonymous@8:21; most mechanics will open the hood first to remove the oil cap. It facilitates the draining of the oil by allowing air to enter as the oil drains.
Holy HELL, Batman ... did M&A's brain ever receive an EARLYMASSAGE this WedPuz mornin.
That there ZHUZHUP thingy was not only a debut entry in the NYTPuz, but also a debut no-know in the M&A universe. Plus, too boot, it was so nicely shielded by KATZ & AZT.
staff weeject pick: AZT. Part of a nice ZHUZHed-UP weeject stack cove, in the puz central station.
some fave stuff: Zombie-clued themer THEDEADSIEGE. TAPTAP. POPTHEHOOD. PUN & HELL clues. Phuket [zhuzh-ed-up 35-Down clue exclamation].
Thanx, Mr. Berg dude. ZhU had m&e impressively sufferin.
Masked & Anonymo9Us
... tough little pup here for dessert? Zhu be the judzh ...
"Sound Judgment" - 7x7 12 min. themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Thought for the Day: It should not be as difficult and complicated to cut a sandwich in half as it is to send an astronaut into space. It just shouldn't be. So if anyone ever wanted to know why I don't cook...
I pronounce my name Jacqueline the French way (the J as in the ge in beige). I have found that anglophones have trouble pronouncing a word with an initial J (beige). So I love any puzzle that has a word that starts with this sound!
So it's essentially an offset, serrated bread knife. Don't have one. Don't think I need one - I'm not cutting hundreds of sandwiches a day - but I do think I've seen them in various delis. Thanks for the info.
In London: Sir John Soane's house
Reasonably priced?! If you were there recently we have very different standards for reasonably priced.
Think Zha Zha Gabor, actually spelt ZsaX2
La Venencia, Calle de Echegaray 7
Iconic sherry bar
Read the NYT account before you go so you don’t act like a tourist
Malaika
LONDON: John Shane Museum
PARIS: Musee Marmottan
MADID: Sarolla Museum (might be closed... Lazaro Goldman Museum for backup up)
MADRID: Salmon Guru (best cocktails and Gastropub in Madrid!).
XOXO
Tim
One does not need to POP THE HOOD to change the oil, one must get under the car, though one must pop the hood to refill the engine so...never mind...
London: Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street is great. A stunning building and excellent collection. The booksellers are happy to help, and several times I've asked for suggestions, I've ended up with four or five of them consulting and suggesting!
I also recommend taking a boat from the Tower of London to Greenwich, going to the Observatory to check out cool navigation instruments but, above all, to stand on the Prime Meridian!!!
Have a ball in all of your travels. (Next time add Barcelona!)
I almost could not bring myself to finish this puzzle, since I absolutely detest the word ZHUZH. The sound, the spelling, the concept. Covfefe!
Malaika, we've done the "downstairs" look at Notre Dame and it is really interesting but I have another recommendation for you: The Musee de l'Orangerie in the Jardin des Tuileries, where you can view two large oval galleries completely filled with Monet's water lily paintings. I've never been a big fan of Impressionism, but these are truly wonderful paintings. Last time we were there, ten or so years ago, we had the whole place to ourselves. Weekday mornings, soon after opening seem best. It sounds like an oxymoron, but it was a spectacularly meditative experience. Unlike the similar grouping of his work at MOMA in New York, l'Orangerie was not crowded. No jostling in a mosh pit of tourists. Just a quiet place to appreciate the grandeur of his "vision", or lack of it, I suppose.
Gosh, I think I’ll skip any future commentaries by Malaika. I will never be on the same wavelength with a person who likes clues like “Greeting that becomes another greeting if you add an A at the front and reverse it”, or whose brain runs to Buffalo Stance at the mention of “hi-hat”. Need an introduction to the hi-hat? Check out any number of great jazz drummers, Gene Krupa for one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyAUKU_ImNg
I didn’t find this easy but I did really enjoy the theme answers and revealer. ZHUZH UP can be heard often on HGTV home renovation shows but I still needed a lot of crosses before realizing what went in there.
There's just something funny about SKIP TO MY LUGE!
Thanks, Michael B Berg!
London: The Barbary in Covent Garden. The best North African/Mediterranean food I’ve ever eaten. Go for late lunch after visiting the National Gallery.
Also London: check to see if they’re doing any live performances at The Globe. Buy seats, do not stand!
My wife and I returned from a weekend in Paris just yesterday, and I second this! Les Deux Magots, Polidor, or Closerie des Lilas are all wonderful restaurants. And don't forget to swing by Shakespeare & Co.
@Anonymous 8:06 am, it's "seezh" in French, but in my experience can be either in English.
Easy oeasy, I have a neighborhood for you in London, Hampstead, and a fine pub as your base of operations there, The Flask. If there on Sunday by all means have the Sunday Roast. I allso have a street in Paris, the Rue Mouffetard. It will never look as totally medieval as it did 60 years ago, but a lovely walking street still Also, another neighborhood, the old Place Royale, and a wonderful place that years ago was a bargain, Willi's Wine Bar on the Rue des Petit Champs. Their top wines cost a fortune now, but didn't use to, and last I went, the food was quite good. The neighborhood is one of the oldest and best in Paris.
@Bob Mills the clue on LOTR says "to fans" which indicates it will be a shortened and/or slangy/familiar answer as opposed to the full name.
i personally prefer the hints to be in the clue like this, rather than plainly stated [eg abbr, fr, 2 wds, etc] but YMMV of course! :)
-stephanie.
[ps FWIW i can't stand LOTR/most old timey elven type fantasy - it's very beautiful but just does nothing for me and puts me to sleep. so i'm certainly far from being a super fan.]
@ Lewis. Thanks for passing on that critic's line. I almost couldn't quit laughing.
The suggestions for Malaika's visit to London left me amazed at all the places I'd never been, nor even heard of, in my 40 + years of visiting. Harrods, of course, I was familiar with. Tho some decades ago it lost its appeal.
While doing the puzzle I was doubtful, as some early posters were, about the ge sounds matching zh, but saying them aloud this am, have to agree with the constructor - they are the same.
Having never heard of zhuzh up, and not much liking it now, made the reveal fall flat for me.
We have definitely seen ZHUZH in the NYT puzzle before. I'm sure it was the first time I had ever seen it spelled out, but was it perhaps ZHUSH? I can't remember, and I'm not a XWordInfo subscriber so I can't check.
Typeovers: RASPILY before NASALLY for Dylan's voice. TIPS before TILL for "Cashier's tray".
@Barry solve it as a themeless! :) i didn't get the theme until the very end. "skip to my lou" was something i knew, and i saw that it was now luge, but i didn't know why and the others weren't ringing any bells for me. even after i finished, it took me a minute to see what the theme was doing.
i am familiar with zhuzh though - like someone else said, it had a big moment during the original season of queer eye which is where i became aware of it...sheesh had to be over twenty years ago now, yikes lol. anyway it stayed in the lexicon ever since. it means like "jazz up."
in any case, the crosses in that area are fair, the only exception being, imho, that one Z at the very center of the puzzle.
themes are just like clues, in that some will be in your wheelhouse, some won't. but one of the signs of a good puzzle is that you can solve it with or without the gimmick.
-stephanie.
@Nancy yes, it is a real phrase, but no, zhuzh doesn't mean be quiet. it means what the clue says it does: "fancify." it's the same as "jazz up" if you are familiar with that phrase :]
-stephanie.
I am and I can; ZHUZH has appeared once on Saturday, Oct 8, 2022, clued as "Dash of panache". Looks like a novelty type word that I hope wanders off never to be seen again.
Niecy Nash is an actress, not a he.
Idol is how people in the know refer to American Idol. Idol is BY FAR the biggest television show EVER - FAR FAR more popular than the Lucy Show, Seinfeld or anything else. Look it up. Idol has topped the TV rankings for more years and more consecutive years than any other show by a WIDE MARGIN.
Same here. Great movie.
You’re kidding, right? “Liking” a type of clue isn’t a strong stand like love/hate. Plus, she ASKED the commentariats to weigh in and apparently @Les hates those clues, too, but I doubt he’ll hold it against Malaika. Likewise, with respect to HIHAT, Malaika didn’t say it was the most stunning use of a hi hat…it’s merely in the opening line. Good grief.
Malaika, more on Paris, @old timer is right, the Rue Mouffetard is a lovely walk. A good glimpse into what Paris was like before Haussmann rebuilt it in the 1850s. I don't know where you'll be staying but permit me to recommend the 11th arrondissement, somewhere near the Canal St. Martin. No 5 star hotels. Mostly cheaper accommodations. Lots of cafes, bakeries, etc. Quite affordable. Big student population and, in the evenings you will often find groups of them sitting by the canal with a bottle of wine or a few bottles of lager, maybe a guitar, chatting about ... maybe the death of existensialism, I don't know, but it's a very pleasant atmosphere. Pull up a cobblestone and park yourself for a nice summer evening.
@Liveprof plenty of Tolkien fans (myself included) will say LOTR as its own word, pronounced like “loter.” Therefore it is certainly an acronym, at least for us.
Don’t miss the National Portrait Gallery. It is amazing AND FREE!
Malaika, your trip sounds wonderful. I have a recommendation for Paris. If you like impressionist art, there’s a small museum called the Musee Marmottan-Monet in the 16th arr. that has a great collection of Monet and Berthe Morissot. It’s in an old mansion that’s fun to visit and they often have some interesting special exhibit.
Malaika, I don’t know how long you will be in each city and that matters…I’ve been to Paris four times and I would go again. I’ve been to London twice and I COULD be persuaded to go again, and I’ve been to Madrid once…I would NOT go again. My point is…there are so MANY places to go to (and love) in London and (IMO) that it is impossible for me to suggest things that you haven’t already planned to see. Madrid (to me) was a dud. (And I traveled by car south through WONDERFUL places). Other than the Prado…I would recommend taking a full day tour (available from Madrid, and reasonably priced!)…they have Toledo/Segovia and also Toledo/Segovia/Avila. These towns are BEAUTIFUL!
Malaika. If you are interested in art I second the Les S More recommendation of the L’Orangerie. I saw it 10 years ago. Also small museums like that are less exhausting. Like many museums in Europe, le Louvre is in crisis being over flooded with visitors.
A suggestion for history , if that interests you is the Imperial War Museum in London. People I know raved about it
John Shane is new to me but Sir John Soames (sp?) is an amazing house museum in London, totally unchanged for centuries as I recall
Bob Mills.
Confused a bit because several people already noted that ROTR is not an acronym but an initialism. The signal in the clue for shortning is “to fans, which often appears in the Times puzzle. Also initialism are all the rage among fans these days especially with books movies or series with long titles. The clue gave enough warning for a Tuesday.
Close but Georges bothers me a little because Georges has a different vowel sound from t
Hopefully someone who is knowledgeable will weigh in, but having read for some time comments from people here who are insiders in Crossworld, my impression is that there is a large backlog of submissions and that it there can be quite a few months between submission and publication, so it wouldn't be the constructors who could pivot in real time. Thus I suspect that any such pivots would be on the editors' side, and they are the ones who really have control over the cluing, which may be where the phenomenon you believe you see is concentrated. I hope someone lets us know if I've gotten this wrong though.
@old timer and Les: also thumbs up for Rue Mouffetard. I was there 38 years ago, and we just picked a tiny little cafe at random and had the most excellent meal for peanuts (I think it was about 5 dollars each?). Only about 6 tables.
This old timer agrees that the best thing to do in Madrid is to take a half day tour of Toledo. But also in whatever neighborhood you are staying find yourself a great bar for wine or cocktails and a taps or two to snack on. Then go back every night at the same time. The bartender will treat you like an old friend.
Of course the Prado is a must.
@Anoa, thanks. And it was dead center there as well!
FWIW Stumptown Steve
Katz has been in the Times puzzle often. It is a major tourist attraction/deli and has been around for decades. It is in New York and in its paper of record. I don’t think it is unfair on a Wednesday.
Nice puzzle today.
If you're in Lanzarote, take the boat to La Graciosa and walk round the island to get away from it all!
It's absolutely your prerogative not to read her, but the disapproving tone doesn't seem all that warranted. Being a crossword constructor in her own right, she seems about as worthy as anyone to fill in as guest reviewer. And we can only write from where we stand and not where others think we should stand. Malaika strikes me as young and interesting and open to experience, and her writing is pleasant enough. Her difference in style is refreshing.
My favorite one line movie pan "It's like a porn movie without the porn."
Beezer I went to Barcelona twice, once Junior year aboard in the’70’s and once in 2013. Very different the second time but loved both visits (Franco hated Barcelona and the Catalans hated him so o the city was very different from Madrid even then)
Under Franco Madrid was more like a lesson in fascism. Good experience for me at the time though. El Prado then had a great emphasis on religious paintings, a political act, which I grew tired of very quickly. The main park was wonderful.
But others do have a favorable opinion of Madrid now.
About the puzzle
I liked the puzzle just fine. I was sloppy about the AZT zhuzhed cross put in an s. A z would have fit the theme and I should have remembered the drug name. I have never seen RuPaul’s show or the other reality shows mentioned so I forgot the spelling in the recent appearance of zhuzhed. Oh well. A dnf
I'm here very late -- I had to take the car to the shop this morning, and for some reason didn't take the puzzle along with me. By the time I got to is I was having more trouble than usual reading the numbers in the boxes, and then there was that ZHUZH UP/KATZ crossing, and my thinking that 62-A was going to start with a 'MASKARA" pun. So I had to look up a couple things, notably the word ZHUZH. No idea about Niecy NASH, but the crosses did for that. Anyway it's over.
“common slang”? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms? I’d have thought slang was, by definition, uncommon. No?
The lines to get into the church can be long and slow -- but if you buy a ticket for the evening concert, you can get in faster. And if the timing is right, the windows will light up at sunset.
No umbrellas, but they'll sell you a plastic poncho for a pound or two.
Tim, I think that may be a typo, if you mean the architect's house -- John SOANE. Malaika, if you go there, be aware that he made room for the art by hanging swinging panels that can be opened up to see what's behind--get the staff to open them, they won't view it kindly if you try to do it yourself.
In addition to the usual Madrid sites, I'd recommend La Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, sometimes called "Goya's Pantheon" -- it's his tomb, with a wonderful collection of his art, and it's off the beaten track enough that it is not mobbed.
Good point. I didn’t dislike Madrid…and I thought the people were very nice.given close proximity, I just figured they can take a great day trip and be back for partying in the evening in Madrid. 🙂
Yes! La Admits Dr San Antonio is cool. There are two right next to each other. The one you want to see is now the museum. Goya is buried there. BUT, MOST IMPORTANTLY, right next door is Casa Mingo. You WANT the roast chicken and Asturian cider at Casa Mingo! It will be a highlight from a city with great food highlights!
@JT -- "The Roses"
I haven't changed my own oil in 20 years but when I go to the oil change station that's the first thing they tell me to do. In Paris Place DesVosges is a beautiful park and convenient to Victor Hugo House. Near the Palais Royal are couple very cool Passages couverts Vero and Vivienne.
London: Churchill War Rooms are a must
El cuchillo para sándwich de mala calidad no logró cortar la mostaza. Even in Spanish this "PUN" feels tortured.
I'm glad I'm posting late so nobody will read my petty victory, but a year ago a couple of Anonymous grumblers were sick of hearing about my move to New Mexico and said they'd been on the blog for years and felt they had seniority enough to tell me to shut up and so in their honor I started adding a Spanish sentence at the top of every post to remind them I couldn't care less about their opinions, and I love them, and I am still in Albuquerque -- and also to help me learn Spanish. Anyway, that was a year ago and I'm still being ridiculous. Victory is mine.
ZHUZH is currently my 25th favorite word. And [Fancify] is a perfect clue.
It's probably not great to tap on microphones, especially expensive ones. You can just say, "Is this thing on?" or sing Skip to My Lou.
❤️ SKIP TO MY LUGE.
People: 7
Places: 4
Products: 8
Partials: 3
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 23 of 78 (29%)
Funny Factor: 6 😅
Tee-Hee: DAMNS. HELL.
Uniclues:
1 Every white guy ever.
2 Why my fourth day on vacation stunk.
3 คุณกำลังทำอะไรอยู่ในหนองน้ำของฉัน!?
1 ANGLO WHO IRKED
2 DUAL ART MUSEUMS (~)
3 THAI OGRE SLANG (~)
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Why black hole enthusiasts fall in love. ITS GRAVITY.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Malaika. Visit L'Hotel in Paris. Lovely old mansion where Oscar Wilde lived.. and a wonderful old bar.
London: A concert at the Empire Shepherd's Bush, and a walk with The Original London Walk company. Oh, and indulge in an English breakfast. And for art, the Courtauld Gallery. Paris: yes, yes, yes to L'Orangerie. Also the Musee D'Orsay.
Easy enough, but a pretty dull theme.
I read it. Always read your posts. Like your tehees and gunk ratings. I like reading about poster’s towns etc. (especially the Canadians we hsve) and lives (cdilly)
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