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Swanky Tokyo shopping district / SUN 9-14-25 / Italian architect Ponti / Nintendo character with a long, sticky tongue / Tummy-toning tool / Avoid, as a falling anvil / Gucci who pioneered bamboo-handled handbags / fictional Hawaiian fast-food chain in "Pulp Fiction" / Orange creature in an arcade game / Sax who invented the saxophone / Renowned N.Y.C. venue for divas / DuBois's portrayer in the film "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Constructor: Daniel Grinberg
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- ROAD RUNNER (91A: Target of 110-Across)
- WILE E. COYOTE (110A: Devious character who's the subject of this puzzle)
- ACME CORPORATION (26A: Supplier of 110-Across)
- MEL BLANC (52A: Voice of 110-Across)
- CHUCK JONES (54A: Artist and co-creator of 91- and 110-Across)
- "BEEP BEEP!" (88A: Signature sound of 91-Across)
- DODGE (63D: Avoid, as a falling anvil)
Word of the Day: GIO Ponti (108D: Italian architect Ponti) —
Giovanni "Gio" Ponti (Italian pronunciation: [ˌdʒo pˈponti]; 18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher.During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more than a hundred buildings in Italy and in the rest of the world. He designed a considerable number of decorative art and design objects as well as furniture.Thanks to the magazine Domus, which he founded in 1928 and directed almost all his life, and thanks to his active participation in exhibitions such as the Milan Triennial, he was also an enthusiastic advocate of an Italian-style art of living and a major player in the renewal of Italian design after the Second World War. From 1936 to 1961, he taught at the Milan Polytechnic School and trained several generations of designers. Ponti also contributed to the creation in 1954 of one of the most important design awards: the Compasso d'Oro, and was himself awarded the prize in 1956. Ponti died on 16 September 1979.
His most famous works are the Pirelli Tower, built from 1956 to 1960 in Milan in collaboration with the engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, the Villa Planchart in Caracas and the Superleggera chair [pictured], produced by Cassina in 1957.
• • •
You'd think something moving as fast as a car might say "BEEP BEEP," but no, that is not the sound. It's just not. Verifiably not. Getting "B"s instead of "M"s there was incredibly disappointing. Thankfully, that was one of the only disappointing moments I had while solving this puzzle. I admit that I started in a very eye-roll-y place. Black squares, in the most horrendous-looking of formations, clearly trying to do some kind of pictorial something or other ... it all looked so ungainly and awkward. And then I hit the first themer (MEL BLANC) and literally shouted "Again!??!" Didn't we just do a MEL BLANC puzzle!? In fact, yes, we did. Very recently (Aug. 18). So recently that I have to wonder what the editorial team was thinking, scheduling these puzzles so close together. Anyway, like I said, not inclined to love this one early on.
But then something changed. There was a vibe shift. The first thing that happened was I noticed what the black squares were trying to do. Now that I was firmly anchored in the Looney-Tooniverse, I could see the anvil falling on WILE E. COYOTE's head. An absolutely gonzo idea. Huge, bizarre swing, trying to make that picture work. Though it's very pixelated and rough, I had to admire the effort. And the execution. Honestly, it's pretty good (better when the color kicks in at the end, but good even before that). And then the little "HELP!" caption—come on, that's nice. I wish the word "HELP" had been either standalone or buried inside an answer where it didn't mean "HELP" at all (like, I dunno, WHELPS?). But the caption is such a clever idea (the cherry on the sundae), that I can't quibble that much with the execution. The picture part of this, rather than being an annoying extraneous thing that compromises the fill, ends up revealing itself over time, unfolding in a really fun, entertaining, and ultimately charming way. I also love the funny punny rightly central cartoon title ("FAST AND FURRY-OUS"). The whole venture felt appropriately loon(e)y. Winning stuff, all around.
The fill was ... inventive. Mostly in good ways, although it is really loaded up with proper nouns, particularly people's names. ADOLPHE ALDO GIO LEIGH JOANN ALI ALEC IVANI GINZA YOSHI YEOH LOHAN ENO Q*BERT ... this is by no means a complete list. Add those (and others) to the names that are part of the theme, and, yeah, welcome to Name Town. Not everyone's favorite Town. Everything seemed pretty gettable to me, though I somehow blanked on the middle letter of AYO (again!) and definitely had a "???" moment at the LEIGH (Vivien!) / GIO (??) crossing. For me, the good outweighed the name-nameiness of it all. "I THINK NOT," MILD SALSA, the triple colonnade of AB ROLLER, MET OPERA, and SPEAK-SING, plus GULP DOWN, A LOT TO LIKE. I have no idea what a TEA PITCHER is, but I liked that I could really feel the constructor going to great lengths to just Make It Work. Like the ROAD RUNNER & WILE E. COYOTE cartoons, this puzzle entertained me. That's pretty rare for a Sunday, of late (sadly). So I'm grateful.
 |
| [AB ROLLER] |
What else?:
That's all. See you next time.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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- 63D: Avoid, as a falling anvil (DODGE) — you've already drastically broken the rules of symmetry, why not break some more rules while you're at it! The "G" and "E" in this answer are completely uncrossed. That is, they have no actual crosses, and the puzzle offers no other way of getting at them either (e.g. they aren't part of some longer word or phrase being spelled out across the puzzle grid). Unchecked squares are an out-and-out violation of protocol, but ... come on, what else are those letters gonna be? "DOD--" No other word in the English language could go there. So I'm fine with it, and especially fine with it because those letters go right into the top of the "coyote"'s head, precisely where the looming "anvil" is threatening to fall. Will he DODGE it? He will not.
- 95A: North Carolina college town (ELON) — I knew it was a college, I'm not sure I knew it was a town. Weird to add a completely extraneous "town," but I guess if it confuses the solver a little (as it did me), then why not. This answer crosses another proper noun, JOANN, which gave me more trouble. I think I had her as JOANA and maybe JOANE before ELON set me straight. JOANN Pflug was in Altman's M*A*S*H and then was all over TV in the '70s and '80s, particularly on the game show circuit—a frequent panelist on Match Game, for instance.
- 118A: Part of Wayne's world? (WESTERN) — Think John Wayne, star of countless WESTERNs
- 10D: Gucci who pioneered bamboo-handled handbags (ALDO) — can you really "pioneer" bamboo-handled handbags? Of all the things one might pioneer, bamboo-handled handbags ... I could list things from now til the day I die and never hit bamboo-handled handbags
- 17D: Wine also known as Primitivo, familiarly (ZIN) — as in "ZINfandel." I had no idea. Heard ZIN a lot. Never heard "Primitivo."
- 33D: Big ___ Burger, fictional Hawaiian fast-food chain in "Pulp Fiction" (KAHUNA) — wow, deep cut. But I've seen that movie a lot, so ... easy. The Big KAHUNA Burger features prominently in one scene. It's ... memorable. And pretty violent. It features Frank Whaley (the kid with the burger), and Phil LaMarr (backed against the door), who was, if I remember correctly (... does some mental math ...) my grad school girlfriend's college boyfriend's roommate at Yale. [don't worry, this clip cuts out before things get violent]
One last thing. Today's constructor has a really fun and informative podcast about crossword puzzles. It's called Crosstalk: A Crossword Construction Podcast. Each episode, Daniel has a long chat with an accomplished constructor, in which they talk about why and how they do what they do. He's done five episodes so far, all with excellent constructors (including Rafael Musa, who writes for this blog sometimes). Lots of nuts and bolts construction talk. Charming and, if you're an aspiring constructor, useful. Check it out (wherever you get your podcasts, presumably).
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75 comments:
"Cream that's said to combat dark circles" = Eyegel
A cream is not a gel mate.
Easy, much like a lot of recent Sundays.
Overwrites:
RED ALDERS (24A) are trees. RED eLDERS are old communists.
When I run someone down I DEbasE them. But others may DEFAME them (29D)
It took a couple of tries to spell Michelle YEOH (40D) correctly.
I thought Mr. Sax was ADOLPHo instead of ADOLPHE (72A)
one EGG before ANT EGG at 84A
Prel before PERT for the 102D shampoo
cAp before MAX for the upper limit at 115A
WOEs:
Never heard of SPEAK-SING (78D), but it was easy to infer from the clue.
Didn't know GIO Ponti (108D)
As a side note, GREEN CAR (85D) seems an awful lot like GREEN PAINT
Agree with Rex, started off strange, but improved as it went on. Apart from Beep, which should be Meep. And "Activist movement" seems like a rather generous description of ANTIFA, particular in light of this week's events.
I didn't think Rex would like this one! I watched a ton of Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons in my youth, but anyone who is less familiar with this (or any other) Chuck Jones creation might get lost with all the PPP. I enjoyed this and polished it off pretty quickly.
I'll have to check out Daniel's podcast!
just under 30 minutes for me, so that's easy-medium. Took a while to see what the big black shapes were doing--loved the theme, and there was enough of it to fill the grid pretty well! Fantastic and creative puzzle, Daniel, thank you!!!
Post-solve thoughts about Wilee:
• I loved his falls down the canyon, often accompanied by the sound of a slide whistle, and often seen from above, where he got smaller and smaller until he was just a dot; then came the explosion, with clouds of dust, and afterward, a closeup of him dazed, determined to find a new way to get the Road Runner.
• I forgot that he never spoke, that when he had something to say he held up a sign, like the HELP in the grid.
• Most important, now that I think about him, I love his determination and hopeful outlook. There’s a bit of Thomas Edison in him. No matter how many times Wilee failed, he knew he’d succeed the next time. He never gave up. Determination like that often gets things done that have never been done before.
When a puzzle is a hoot and trigger of inspiration in addition to a fill-in, it’s a big winner in my book. Thank you for this, Daniel!
Tribute puzzles never seem to land properly - this one achieves more than others we’ve seen but still comes up short. The central revealer is fine but the add-ons to the theme are pedestrian at best.
Jonathan Richman
The grid art is so restrictive to the overall fill. Rex highlights the name trivia fest inside - it’s overwhelming for a trivia based theme and gives a TV Guide quality to the puzzle. I did like RED ALDERS and KAHUNA.
Richard Shindell
Fill in the blanks easy so it went quick - but there wasn’t A LOT TO LIKE in this Sunday morning solve.
Like WOW Wipeout
mEEP mEEP, and I'll die on that hill.
I thought the "3 black squares" under the HELP sign hint in the puzzle's description was confusing. I thought it meant there was a word (or at least 3 letters) that I should infer -- as opposed to those 3 squares just being the handle of the HELP sign.
Aside from the BEEPBEEP, and yes, it’s definitely Meep Meep, I’ve had hens much of my life and never seen one build a NEST. Lastly, I’ve heard of the rod in hot rod be an abbreviation for roadster, refer to the piston rod, even to connecting rods. But never hear of rod referring to the AXLE. They’re just making things up here.
Side note… cars should have a meep meep button for situations where a horn is too aggressive. If I am distracted as a light turns green, hearing a meep meep from the car behind me would sent me on my way with a smile.
A couple of grid nerd-notes:
• Sunday puzzles average 74 black squares; today’s had 100 due to the grid art. Before the puzzle I couldn’t figure out what those big blotches were. Now, to me, they are gorgeous. Not only do they capture the anvil and Wilee, but that anvil is so close to flattening Wilee, it feels to me as if it is moving.
• Because of the grid art, the puzzle is asymmetrical, but Daniel skillfully gave it a symmetrical echo, with many left-right black square symmetry.
3D has a glaring error that is sure to piss off the smeltig community - an ORE is a mineral, from which one extracts metal. I can't believe that made it past the lawyers! ;-P
How could Mel Blanc do the voice of Wile E. Coyote if that character never uttered a sound?
Love Roadrunner cartoons and his adventures with WEC! And BEEPBEEP is classic. Recently landed at JFK and wife had hard time walking the half-mile from plane to exit, so we hitched a ride on a small mobile bus that carried us and baggage through the crowds. The horn on the little bus was broken so the driver did a great BEEPBEEP imitation. It was universally recognized and instead of irritation at the bus working its way through the crowds everyone broke out laughing.
Was initially awed by the strange construction and odd long answers in this puzzle but it turned out to be my fastest Sunday ever.
Too many names. I was done except for the section that had Yoshi, Cho, Lohan, Chuck Jones, Yeoh, Eno, and Ayo after about 25 minutes, which is good for me on a Sunday. Played musical letters with it until I got the Congratulations. Not a fan of this one!
Mostly easy, but I needed an alphabet run for the GINZA/ZIN cross (should have done it backwards). Didn't recognize the grid art construction, even while wondering why ITHELPS had a shaded background. Really, folks...words and clues are enough in a puzzle!
A fun one today - when I first saw the (segmented) grid layout, I was concerned that I would lose momentum and have difficulty traveling from one section to another, but the constructor kept the cluing lively and reasonable, so there were plenty of opportunities to transition without having to find additional footholds here and there.
I saw ACME CORPORATION and immediately went to the reveal, which pretty much opened the floodgates. That whole SE section was very straightforward and set the tone for the rest of the solve.
A couple of minor nits re the clues - “Run down” seems like a stretch for DEFAME. Sure, it’s legit, but there are so many better alternatives (cmon, Will !). I’m not used to seeing Allhallows as one word - that might just be me though. I had a slight cringe when the skeleton of SPEAKSING started to materialize. Has there ever been one of these trendy “quasi-words” that Will has said no to ? Anyway, they’re not for me, WS seems to adore them though, and for taste there is no argument.
This puzzle is a good example of integrating a robust theme into the grid while keeping an eye out on the ultimate solving experience. The constructor clearly knows is craft, and it shows today. Well done sir.
Team MEEP MEEP!!! I even cringed but overall pretty cute.
Product would have been better.
Who doesn't love a slog of names, Naticks, green paint and a marquee answer that is the punny name of a cartoon short from 1949? Me.
Hey All !
Hmm, puz Blockers are symmetrical except for the Anvil and WILE E COYOTE in the middle. Interesting. 100 total Blockers, max is usually 78. Oops, double checking the symmetry , in SE, there's one extra Blocker twixt DSL/ELON, and one fewer after Down NOSAY. than in SW.
Interesting puz, was a fan of this cartoon when young, but now it just grates for some reason. Seeing someone fail at something one million times is not what I seem to find endearing anymore. Who knows why?
Is SPEAKSING a thing? Is it different from Rap?
Got yer Pangram today. Actually I believe it to be a Double -Pangram (two of all 26 Letters). There's two Q's, two Z's, two J's, three X's, a bunch of K's, even a few F's.
Stuck in West/North/Center section, having EvolED for EVENED (I realize that would be INVOLVE), and the generic EAT A SANDWICH of FEAST DAY (or is it an actual thing that I'm just oblivious to? [Probably]) Also, DEFAME tough as clued.
Neat idea, nice grid art, wondering if today is anything special for WILE E or the ROADRUNNER. Or just a cool puz.
Anyway, have a great Sunday y'all, and Go Favorite Football Team!
Seven F's (!)
RooMonster
DarrinV
There is good grid art and bad grid art, and this falls solidly into the bad camp. Not the worst I've seen by any means, but even given the constraints of the medium the anvil does not look particularly anvil-like, and the bottom section looks as much like Roadrunner as it does like Wile E. Coyote.
Also, Roadrunner says meepmeep. (Oh, good. I see this has been covered.)
I adored those cartoons, but I lost interest in the puzzle about ten minutes in.
I rebused "DO Diving and lunging" into 63D, which I could do with uncrossed squares.
Wile E. Coyote most certainly did speak. I remember him talking while clocking in and out of work. And, yeah, definitely ‘Meep-meep’ full stop, end of story.
Perhaps it should be MBEEP! With the MB standing for ... You know who! Or a Malaika MBEEP
This one lined up pretty easy for me, as I seemed to know the proper names (except GIO, thanks for the intro Rex)
I'm usually pretty slow on the uptake with themes, but after getting ACME I recognized the picture and theme right away. Likely due to countless Saturday mornings watching "The Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Hour" as a child. The forlorn "HELP" on the side of the doomed Wile E was the icing on the cake!
Great job Daniel. And Rex, as far as I'm concerned NYT could served us up Mel Blanc puzzles every Sunday!
Doesn’t anyone remember the Plymouth Road Runner there is no way that the horn on that car went meep meep. On the other hand, the roadrunner did not have any lips and could not pronounce his “B’s”.
First thing on opening this puzzle, I noticed the lack of symmetry. Taking a closer look before proceeding -aha! the anvil and WILE E. COYOTE ! Delightful.
Although I usually enjoy a challenge, with so many names the fill-in-the-blank crosses were a gift.
Agree - "domestic terror organization" is more APT.
Chuck Jones also animated The Grinch - surprised no cluing there...
Serious side-eye to the allegations that the suspect is ANTIFA -- all the sources I've seen for that have been pretty right-wing ones, and many of them arose during the histrionics before we even knew the name of Kirk's alleged assassin -- people (including the commander-in-chief) were jumping to conclusions about the motives very quickly. Other sources, looking into the suspect's identity after he was caught, suggest he may be politically to the right of Kirk (I've seen the term Groypers, a group associated with Nick Fuentes, used here), and it seems he comes generally from a MAGA background.
The description "activist movement" is completely accurate. ANTIFA is not even an organization, although some will try to tell you it is. It (insofar as anything concrete can be said) is a loose array of many individual anti-fascism and anti-racism groups, varying quite widely in terms of the types of actions they engage in, and ideologies they subscribe to. Research suggests that most of the actions linked to ANTIFA groups have been nonviolent, even though some of the groups have indeed engaged in violence.
Oh, but he does speak on occasion! He identifies himself as Wile E. Coyote: Super-Genius! Here, check this out.
Speaksing (better known as Sprechstimme) was invented by Arnold Schoenberg around the beginning of the 20th Century. Google Pierre Lunaire.
Where's the fun in MILD SALSA?
...oh, I don't mean the crossword clue. I mean the condiment--if it doesn't burn, why even have it?
(I'm kidding, of course. Just love spicy food. And good crosswords.)
Any other classical music nerds out there want to take on Sprechstimme’s influence on vocal music post WWII?………..crickets echoing
Solved on a phone in the subway last night - not recommended for a Sunday puzzle.
I also always thought it was "meep meep" BUT the Road Runner from the Looney Tunes cartoons does not say "meep meep"; he actually says "beep beep". The sound was created by background artist Paul Julian, who was recorded making a car-horn-like sound, which was then sped up and used as the bird's signature call throughout the series. This iconic sound has become synonymous with the character, though many people misremember (or mishear) it as "meep meep". https://youtube.com/shorts/TEfuaRx63RE?si=BCXpgH5WdIQYDKbX
I'm a sucker for Looney Tunes generally, and wax nostalgic for the era of Saturday morning cartoons when there were only about three or four TV channels in all. So I welcomed the theme with a smile, and I thought the visual was super-cute. But my gosh, a lot of the cluing seemed very simplistic. So much to choose from here, but a few are "Reason to atone" [SIN], "Bert's best buddy" [ERNIE], and "Partner of a pestle" [MORTAR]. So I'm less enthusiastic than Rex about the puzzle overall. I was mildly surprised he didn't say anything about the green paint vibe of MILD SALSA.
On the topic of brushes with fame: Frank Whaley (mentioned in Rex's write-up as the actor playing the character who has to fork over his Big KAHUNA Burger to Jules) lives in my town; he and his wife have kids (now young adults) who were contemporaries of my kids in the public schools. Good people, fine upstanding citizens.
Beautiful day here in my little hamlet. Hope you enjoy yours as well.
Wile E. did speak, mainly when he appeared with Bugs Bunny. His famous phrase was “Wile E. Coyote, supergenius!”. Aside: grateful that Elon was not clued “former doge Musk.”
I cringed at clue for ANTIFA. Clue implies it is a centralized organizational movement as MAGA and Trump would like their supporters to believe. Promotes their propaganda. Ugh.
Absolutely. I really liked this puzzle, but that mistake is unforgivable.
Just so much fun !
Love this clip – – thanks!
This was super easy today because so much territory was a gimme, but I had fun. My biggest hold-up was having put in DOlt for 8D which wasn't fixed until my random solve jumped to 26A. This made for some pretty strange trees at 24A.
I did not know SPEAK SING was a term. I thought talk and croon was just hip-hop.
I'm glad Rex explained the circled HELP in the SW because I didn't remember the COYOTE's sign.
Thanks, Daniel Grinberg, for an entertaining solve on Sunday!
Isn't IVANI Jared's pet name for his wife?
I like the HUGE KAHUNA crossing. Didn't their burger end up out-competing the Big Kauna Burger?
I had a big thrill the other day when I met Oprah at the METOPERA.
Advice to FROSH: If you SEXT and get a XOXO in reply, then GOFORIT, but use a TROJAN.
There's a LOTALIKE in this puzzle. Thanks for the hilarious trip down memory lane, Daniel Grinberg
I agree it sounds like meep meep. But remember the Plymouth I think road runner cars, their paint jobs said beep beep.
Some years ago I saw a wonderful Chuck Jones exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. CJ determined that Wile E. Coyote's fall time was always a count of 13 because that was funniest.
Yadda yadda it's meep meep. Moving on.
Once I got ROADRUNNER, I was laughing with the themers - I just went around and dashed them all off.
I even love that DODGE is breaking the rules - the GE has DODGEd out of the way of the crosses
Hate to tell you but the 2nd RR cartoon is titled “Beep Beep”.
Not to get political here but it doesn’t seem that this guy was a leftist by any stretch of that term. He was terminally online and possibly, maybe part of a group that thought Charlie Kirk was not extreme right ENOUGH
@Anonymous 10:25 AM
OMG, I hope this is true. Fall times of 13 seconds are the funniest. Genius.
just wanted to double down & say you’re correct here. the main suspect turned out to be from a conservative background and was more closely linked to incel and far right communities than the media was speculating before he was turned in by his own father. additionally, antifa is akin to saying something like feminist. there are varying degrees and sects of both, and they don’t all agree with each other. some choose more moderate courses of action, while those on the extreme end may opt for more violent outcomes. regardless, you can’t boil down the entire movement based on the actions of the few. thank you for your thoughtful response. the media these days is so quick to villainize both sides of political action, and it’s important we all do more thorough research before coming to conclusions about groups we aren’t members of.
Yes! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beep,_Beep_(film)
Name, name, name, brand name, brand name, name, brand name, name, name . . . UGH.
25A FAWNS. A tip of the cap to Fawn Hall who just married Ollie North after all these years! Who (of a certain age) could forget Fawn's testimony about sneaking top secret docs out in her boots and clothing as every man in America drooled?
115A: MAX. My grandson Leon (8) just attended his second ever Yankee game at the stadium and it was a battle of the Maxes: Scherzer vs Fried. A very good, tense game -- Yanks won.
78D: I'd sooner SPEAK SING than Sing Sing.
"Speak-sing" reminds me of the 1A entry at the crossword championship final puzzle where the answer was SHATNERESQUE.
I had no idea what the grid art represented and I had no idea what kind of pop culture character(s) we were looking for. Were they from video games and arcades? From cartoons? From action flicks? I knew that this seriously not-a-Nancy puzzle would all be Greek to me, but I decided to soldier on until I was forced to stop.
And guess what. I guessed right at the FAQ/QBERT cross. This left me with only two missing Natick letters: The E?EGEL/A?O cross and the ?OSHI/?EOH cross. (Now that I see the Y in the latter one...but I was thinking of a K.)
This was a huge moral victory for me. I felt I was solving it blindfolded from under a toadstool. The unexpected spelling of FAST AND FURRYOUS didn't help either. All I can say is: for those who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like. I suspect however, that those of us who don't like this sort of thing are legion.
Enjoyed the puzzle - though a couple of crosses were hard for me.
Rex sent me down a rabbit hole. Lots out there about the "meep meep" vs. "beep beep" controversy.
Chuck Jones drew it with a B,
https://flickr.com/photos/91369018@N00/3238637962/
which is also how it appears in epside names:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044404/
Interestingly, Paul Julian (who made the sound) relates a story of the origin of the sound - and according to this clip, Paul insisted that the correct spelling is "HMEEP HMEEP".
http://www.dubtrain.com/roadrunner/clip3.mp3
(From the Golden Collection DVD according to this site:
https://ask.metafilter.com/112923/Its-Meep-Meep-dammit#1624096)
I enjoyed working through this puzzle and like WIle E. Coyote and Roadrunner as much as the next person, but the visual fell flat for me. I do the puzzle in the hard copy Sunday magazine and thought, "Well, there must be a lot more to the visual in the online version." But, no, it looks to be just big, ungainly solid black designs there, too. How is the top shape an anvil, and how is the bottom shape the coyote's head? Oh, maybe those are his ears sticking up? That's about all I can see it in.
A few weak entries, such as LEANLY ("With little excess"...???) and TEA PITCHER, which I've never, ever heard of and wonder about being a real thing.
Had FOLLOWING before SHADOWING, but that was about the only hitch.
As much as I agree with MEEP MEEP, the original Chuck Jones character sheet very clearly stipulates that the only words to be spoken by the roadrunner are BEEP BEEP. It would have been remiss of the constructor to ignore this rule. My guess is the voice actors chose what sounded better when it came time to record.
Very easy for me. I stumbled a bit at FURRYOUS but that was it for resistance.
Cute theme/grid art and a fun breezy solve, liked it.
Wow, thanks for the round speech. I definitely know what you mean (sarcasm)
Pretty good, except for TEAPITCHER. Who says that?
According to Warner Brothers, mEEP mEEP and/or BEEP BEEP are interchangeable.
PS - Is anyone else following Paolo Pasco’s run on Jeopardy? He’s got three wins under his belt. Only two away from clinching an entry into the Tournament of Champions…
He's holding the sign. The black squares underneath it are part of the sign.
But also yes, it's MEEP MEEP---that's an unforced error there.
It's a nitpick, but I think you're actually referring to Ralph and Sam, a wolf and a sheepdog, who are natural antagonists during their work days but who drop their differences and get along quite affably during the lunch break and when the whistle blows at the beginning and end of the day.
Ralph does look A LOT ALIKE Wile. E. Coyote; the differences are quite subtle. But it's a different cartoon.
No, Nancy, I'm betting most people liked this. You have to stop judging what you think the populace thinks based on your narrow views.
wile e. mostly never speaks. in the short where bugs bunny fills in for the road runner he has the memorable lines of "my name is wile e. coyote, super-genius" and then later "my name is mud" ("remember kids, 'mud' spelled backward is 'dum'").
the "meep meep" button could change the entire tone of rush hour traffic—especially if it ended with the road runner tongue sound.
The clue does not imply that. It says "left-wing activist movement". A movement does not by any means imply centralized organization. Indeed, you and I probably agree that ANTIFA has neither of those attributes, and we probably agree that Trump and MAGA want us to think otherwise.
I have a quibble with 119A. A BLT does not have to be nonkosher. There is such a thing as kosher beef bacon and kosher lamb bacon. I’ve seen it sold at kosher supermarkets as “beef fry” or “lamb fry”. The rest of the sandwich is pareve (neither meat nor dairy), so depending on how strict your standards are, you can easily make a kosher BLT. Heck, even if your standards are incredibly strict, if you’re already at the kosher supermarket buying “beef fry”, I’m sure you wouldn’t have too difficult a time finding bread and mayonnaise with your preferred hechsher (kosher certification).
If I could, I'd sprinkle heart emojis all over this one. WILE E COYOTE is one of my favorite characters, in no small part due to his unflagging trust in the products of ACME CORPORATION, itself deserving a STAR on the Hollywood walk of fame. I had a very good time with this puzzle.
Well … what is there to say about this one except … it was awful. Sure, I liked the Roadrunner cartoons but that doesn’t mean I’m obliged to like this thing. Just a waste of time. Beep, meep, who cares?
Even though I am a sometimes tea drinker and was initially offended by TEA PITCHER, I have come to understand that it might refer to a pitcher of iced tea so I have to let that one pass. But LEANLY??? And GREEN CAR, really? A single ANT EGG? SPEAK SING? EYE GEL? You’re either a cream or you’re a gel. Make up your mind. Sheesh.
I’m no big fan of opera (tried, but it didn’t take) but I have never heard anyone say MET OPERA for METropolitan OPERA. Maybe some of the opera fans in this group can enlighten me. Is this a real thing?
And all this in order to stuff as much trivia as possible about an ancient cartoon series into the grid, complete with clunky grid art of an anvil dropping on a coyote’s head.
I despair.
¿Tienes mis bendiciones? Creo que no.
Quite a KOOKY puzzle. Love the HELP sign, but I can't quite make out how the brown squares make up the coyote.
Fun roadrunner facts you probably already knew from my last pro-roadrunner post. One, in real life, they do not make the sound beep beep or meep meep. Two, they are all over the place in Albuquerque and essentially have no fear of humans and cruise through my yard like I'm the intruder. Three, they look kind of like miniature dinosaurs 🦖. Four, they can snatch hummingbirds out of the air and love to hang around hummingbird feeders. Five, they also, get this, eat rattlesnakes! They catch 'em, kill 'em, and gobble' em down venom and all. I think they make a nom nom yummy noise during the process. Six, I watched a lotta Looney Tunes after school in the 70s and it's probably why I am an anvil humorophile. Seven, and most importantly in New Mexico you're not required to have a front license plate, mostly because they know they're never going to catch you if you commit a crime anyway, so I have a roadrunner front license plate and on it he says beeeeeeep beep. It's my form of road rage.
RED CEDARS held me up a long time.
I think SIN, if you're embracing it properly, is a reason not to atone.
I love that Pulp Fiction scene. Positively hysterical.
People: 24 {goodness sakes}
Places: 8
Products: 8
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 6
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 53 of 134 (40%) {We have a winner! The latest gunkapalooza award goes to today's constructor as an anvil of honor.}
Funny Factor: 3 😕 Oddly, not that funny of a puzzle?!
Tee-Hee: SEXT.
Uniclues:
1 Preferred vehicle for children who can predict the future in Greece.
2 One gossiping at the holy meal.
3 Comedians?
4 Body odor?
5 Deke made by an idol near the paparazzi.
6 Pickup owner's slogan.
7 Carpe diem in Cannes.
1 DELPHI TRIKES
2 FEAST DAY TEA PITCHER
3 KOOKY REPS
4 IT HELPS OPEN DATES
5 STAR DODGE
6 GREEN CAR? I THINK NOT. (~)
7 GO FOR IT! GULP DOWN JOUR. (~)
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Gets dressed. HALTS ART STUDIO.
¯\_(ツ)_/
PPS - There is however an item for brewing iced (or ice) tea. So maybe 46A could have been re-clued as: Vessel that infuses and pour: Ice ______________.
"A moral victory"? Seriously? If you are so very disappointed in the puzzles, why don't you stop doing them? Your comments are such a downer.
Sheesh, Anonymous 11:30 AM, I think you're being super-harsh. The word "legion" here just means many, it doesn't mean most. It's just an innocuous and fairly non-judgmental opinion that it wasn't her cuppa, and she's probably right that she's not alone.
(Although, I am surprised that she doesn't seem at all familiar with Looney Tunes cartoons!)
I’ve definitely heard “speak-sing”, (recently, mostly in the context of reddit criticisms of Taylor Swift, lol). In speak-singing, unlike rap there is indeed a melody and the voice is hitting specific pitches that are in tune with the instruments, but said melody is rather monotone or only has slight ups & downs that are reminiscent of the natural flow of speech. To pick a recent example, the first several lines of “Free” from Kpop Demon Hunters are speak-singing; the singer is not rapping, but not quite singing either until several lines in, when there’s an audible switch to full singing.
"MEEP MEEP" "BEEP BEEP" - whatever.
My fastest Sunday ever with only 1 typo which I found right away,
Thank you, Daniel :)
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