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Ancient Greek tunic / SUN 10-26-25 / Difficulty, to Hamlet / Toy with "barista" and "dog trainer" versions / Sci-fi series with J, K and Zed / Recognition for an ardent fan? / One assessing the number of hotties at a party? / Breed of Smoky, the first known therapy dog, familiarly / Holiday celebrated with banh chung / "Frozen" character who says "I like warm hugs"
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Constructor: Gary Larson and Doug Peterson
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
- RIGHT ON TIME (23A: "Great job selecting a Person of the Year!"? (Boomer))
- CHILL IN THE AIR (32A: Relax on a plane? (Gen X))
- GHOSTBUSTERS (48A: Abruptly end all communications with D.E.A. agents? (Millennial))
- STAN LAUREL (68A: Recognition for an ardent fan? (Gen Z))
- FLY BY NIGHT (71A: Awesome after dark? (Gen X))
- SNACK COUNTER (87A: One assessing the number of hotties at a party? (Gen Z))
- SHIPPING LANES (104A: Promoting a romantic connection between characters played by actors Nathan and Diane? (Millennial))
- SPLIT SECOND (116A: Leave just after the first person? (Boomer))
A chiton (/ˈkaɪtɒn, -tən/; Ancient Greek: χιτών, romanized: khitṓn [kʰitɔ̌ːn]) is a form of tunic that fastens at the shoulder, worn by men and women of ancient Greece and Rome. There are two forms of chiton: the Doric and the later Ionic. According to Herodotus, popular legend was that Athenian women began to wear the chiton as opposed to the peplos after several women stabbed a messenger to death with the bronze pins characteristic of the peplos. [...] Herodotus states the dress of the women in Athens was changed from the Doric peplos to the Ionic chiton after the widows of the men killed on military expedition to Aegina stabbed and killed the sole survivor with their peplos pins, each demanding where their husband was. This lynching 'seemed a thing more terrible than the disaster'. Thereafter their chitons were held with buttons, often styled with the face of the Gorgon. (wikipedia)
• • •
The puzzle was easy enough to move through, though I got oddly hung up at a patch of squares right around the DEBT part of OLD DEBT (24D: Collector's item?). I was like "well, collectors collect lots of 'old' things, so ... this clue isn't helping. The adjacent RUEFUL also was not at all easy for me to get (42D: Shamefaced); and adjacent to that, I had TV HOST before I had TV STAR. So there was this weird hole in my grid for a bit until I was able to drive GHOSTBUSTERS through there, which gave me the "B" in OLD DEBT, and then I was good. Other mistakes included "AYE AYE" before "AYE SIR" and ELSA before OLAF (damned "L"!) (45A: "Frozen" character who says "I like warm hugs") and AMBIGUOUS before AMBIGUITY (46D: The headline "Kids Make Nutritious Meals," e.g.). I hesitated at NOM v. NOD, which is an AMBIGUITY (!) that feels like it's becoming more common (43A: Candidacy for an entertainment award, informally). That is, I feel like we've had both NOM and NOD clued as award recognitions in recent months, if not weeks. Yeah, we had NODS clued as [Award nominations, so to speak] earlier this month, though I guess there's no real AMBIGUITY there, as "nominations" is in the clue, so the answer would be NOMS. Anyway, you can get an Oscar NOM(ination) and you can get an Oscar NOD and they both mean the same thing. Which is why I left the last letter in NO_ blank today and just relied on the cross. I'm still not really sure how TIPS works as the answer to 12D: Tax code issues, annnnnnnd I think I just got it as I was typing this sentence. The TIPS are the income that servers make—like, how / whether to tax TIPS is a tax code issue. Got it.
The only thing in the grid that I've flat-out never heard of is CHITON, and I probably have heard of it. I've heard of lots of things that I promptly forget. CHITON has probably been in the puzzle before. . . wow, OK, yes, it has, but not since 2003, which is before my blogging days, so I don't feel so bad now. I thought that CHITON might be related to the letter CHI, which made me think CHIS (89D: X's, to Aphrodite) might be some kind of etymological dupe, but no, doesn't look like CHITON has anything to do with the letter "X."
Bullets:
- 40D: Head honcho (TOP BANANA) — here's a funny thing I probably would never have noticed if not for solving crosswords: if you have just the last two letters in place for this answer ("-NA"), then there are not just two viable answers, but two viable answers that fit the (3, 6) pattern—today's correct answer (TOP BANANA) and also BIG KAHUNA, which OED tells me jumped from surfing slang (for a skilled surfer or a big wave) to general slang sometime in the mid-60s. The term seems to have been popularized, in part, by the Gidget film and TV series. TOP BANANA, on the other hand, is originally a theatrical term referring to "the leading comedian in a variety show or cabaret" (1947).
- 73A: Toy with "barista" and "dog trainer" versions (KEN DOLL) — I forgot how hard this answer was for me to get. "Toy" was never going to lead me to a doll or action figure. A "toy" that starts with "K"? ... I was at a loss. Because you're curious, here you go:
 |
| [Man Bun Ken!] |
 |
| [Fanny Pack Ken!] |
- 21A: Bob or Helen in "The Incredibles" (PARR) — old movies I could not remember the details of, Part 1. Part 2 was MIB (aka Men in Black) (54A: Sci-fi series with J, K and Zed)
- 79A: Difficulty, to Hamlet (RUB) — aye ... there it is. First instinct, weirdly: RUE (from Ophelia, "O you must wear your RUE with a difference"). And then RUEFUL ended up being in the puzzle. As I say, weird all around.
- 32D: Jazz trumpeter Baker who was sometimes called the "Prince of Cool" (CHET) — yes, let's listen to some of that.
- 72D: Breed of Smoky, the first known therapy dog, familiarly (YORKIE) — Nearly made Smoky my word of the day. Let's see what we can find out about Smoky... rescued from a foxhole in New Guinea during WWII, she went on missions all over the South Pacific, and eventually became kind of famous. Seems like she was a therapy dog by accident, but whatever, it's a nice story. Look at this baby!
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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91 comments:
Easy. I tried to solve without reading the theme clues and I was almost successful. I needed the clue for 48A.
Overwrites:
My 19A harem pants were puffy before they were LOOSE.
At 32D, I misremembered Mr. Baker’s name as CHad instead of CHET, which is why I needed the 48A clue.
At 36D, Oprah or Ellen was a TV host before she was a TV STAR.
46D: elope before FILCH.
My 118D PC connection was a usb before it was a LAN.
WOEs:
The 18D Asa Butterfield role ENDER.
No clue about The Incredibles PARRs at 21A.
The Greek tunic CHITON (95A).
The ELI Young Band at 115A.
DDR as anything other than the abbr. for East Germany (119D).
DNF due to Natick - IRR crossing PARR. I have no idea what "IRR' means, which meant that 'IIR' with "PAIR" (as in 'married pair') works just as well as the expected answer.
Does the STAN LAUREL come with a hardy handshake?
IRR is a very common abbreviation for “irregular” which has been in the NYTXW 80 times in the Shortz era alone. And PAIR can’t be right because the clue says “or” not “and”
Stan Newman has been running a Doug Monday fairly consistently recently so I’ve come to expect a maturely crafted puzzle whenever I see his name. This one is no different except for the absolutely inane ENISLE.
FLY BY NIGHT
As usual - Rex highlights most of the inflection points of the grid. It’s a cute theme but it trends a little musty - definitely been done before. STAN LAUREL and SNACK COUNTER are chuckle worthy - all the themes are clean enough.
NED
THERMO was the make or break for a lot of physics and engineering students I knew. I always liked it especially the higher level Maxwell relations. Very useful in everyday life.
PATTI
Enjoyable Sunday morning solve.
The Blue Nile
Puzzles have often been sparked before by generational patois as answers, but I don’t remember seeing an entire theme based on it, and what a splendid and original idea. A theme that makes solvers of all ages feel seen!
While it’s lovely to base a theme on words that echo generations, it’s a step up to hide them in common phrases that use them in their more-common non-generational meanings.
Bravo, gentlemen!
Beyond the theme, there were answers I loved: NIBBLE, AVARICE, FILCH, SCUFF, and the roll-off-the-tongue AMBIGUITY.
There was also a clue, [Green opening], that mightily misdirected me, where my face screwed up as I wondered, “What could that be besides ECO?”
There was the Boomer crossing of FAB FOUR and ARLO.
And there were sweet serendipities. A quartet of dog references: STAY, SITS, FLEAS, YORKIE. The rhyming ATRIA and ACACIA. No to mention SEE / PEE / LEE / the clue [Wee] / and wannabe KNEE.
A merry mix in the box today, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Groovy, phat, on fleek, and bussin’. Thank you, Doug and Gary!
Funny that I agreed with Rex on many things in this puzzle, including:
- 43A: I thought NOD at first.
- 10D: AYEAYE at first.
- 36D: I actually had TVSHOW, but same idea.
I didn't know CHITON, although I know chitin. Now, if I should ever see CHITON again, I'll think: "YEA, CHITON, YES." (93A+95A+96A)
There were some "linked" answers, to be sure, as pointed out by others. I liked 53D (ENVY) crossing with 67A (AVARICE). And 99A TEENIE wasn't too far from 126A EENSY. And, is BOOKI (17D) a bit of a link to last week's BOOKII?
I had to ask my wife about IRR (13D)... more often, we see "as is" or "sale" or some such.
Just saw The Incredibles this past week. Brilliant creation. LOL, I do not consider this an "old" movie! "Old movies" to me go back at least 50 years.
ENJOYED IT!
Not a bad theme but, as Rex points out, tricky to assign each term to a specific generation. For example, I was doing some research a while back and found instances of “fly” in the Gen X slang sense going back to the 1890s. I’ve since learned that etymologists have traced it back to 1811. The first instance of “fly girl” (remember them from “In Living Color”? Where J.Lo got her start?) I found was in 1916. And “Superfly” came out in 1972, when the oldest Gen Xer was seven years old. Those were Boomers buying tickets to that movie and dancing to Curtis Mayfield.
These slang terms seem to disappear and reappear over decades or even centuries.
Fairly easy, I thought. Needed only an alphabet run for the SPUME/MONS cross. Knew maybe half the generational words (from doing crosswords), but intuited the rest from crosses. STANLAUREL was a real highlight. Enjoyed it.
I started out like gang busters, thinking it’s either a very easy puzzle or I’m definitely on the right wavelength today. Of course, I’ve done enough NYT puzzles so I was keeping an eye out for the dreaded trivia or arcana that would be my downfall - and I did find some spots rough going.
A Shakespearean heroine crossing one of Chekhov’s Three Sisters is hardly a crime against humanity, but of course I had no idea what their names were. I think it’s weirdly ironic that there was a volcano from Mars in that same section to contribute to my downfall.
I’ll nominate SPUME, ENISLE and CHITON for today’s “only in the NYT” trifecta. On a more positive note - I just got acquainted with WICCA a week or so ago, so it was nice to welcome a new friend back so soon.
Really didn’t get the theme at all. The only “generational” slang I knew was RIGHT ON. Also knew SPLIT and kinda aware of CHILL but couldn’t identify them with a specific generation if my life depended on it. Sigh.
Hey All !
This Gen Xer got a couple of pings of nostalgia in this puz. Like today everyone is LIL, back in the day, everyone was FLY. In 1998, the Offspring had a song titled Pretty FLY For A White Guy. At that time, though, FLY pretty much fizzled out.
Liked the puz overall. Neat use of slang terms throughout the ERAS.
Random puzzlements:
Had Olympus pONS for a bit, mucking up the SW corner. Finally able to see SPUME after erasing the P.
Had rOOmy for LOOSE first, thereby allowing to get 2D and 3D correct.
For KENDOLL, I at first thought "Barbie", but too short. Resisted the urge to POC it with BARBIES. When the K POPped (😁), I knew immediately it was KEN.
eLsa first here, too. "Frozen" has many characters with four letter names, ANNA, ELSA, OLAF, HANS, SVEN.
BOOK I to go with the other days BOOK II. Will we see a BOOK LXXXVIII? Har (The longest Roman Numeral without violating the rules is 3,888- MMMDCCCLXXXVIII. It gets wacky if you go rouge. You're welcome.)
What else? I'm sure I have more nonsense, but y'all have stuff to do, and don't want to waste your time reading my inane ramblings.
Have a great Sunday!
Five F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Totally agree. Asking people to remember the last names of movie superheroes is a stretch and IRR is on ok answer but certainly isn’t obvious as clued. I got it only because R was the only letter that made sense, but the clues were no help.
Clue for 104A is a bit odd. Isn't it really "Promoting a romantic connection actors Nathan and Diane", rather than between characters they play? The characters might be named anything; it is the actors that are LANES.
Made a couple of Rex's mistakes: AYE aye, AMBIGUous. Also had CLOTHES Peg before PIN, and my harem pants were 'baggy' at first.
Generationally based theme with only one reference to Gen X. Shocker.
I'm not sure a NOM and a NOD are in fact the same. A NOM is a nomination, for sure. But while you could use NOD as a direct swap, a NOD - - to me - - could also just be a lot of street chatter saying, "XYZ is surely a shoo in for Best Actress in ZXY!" So a NOD is a little less certain and somewhat broader than the more precise NOM.
They’re the same. He even cited clues showing they’re the same. “Street chatter?”
What does STREETROD mean? I am drawing a blank here.
Right off, at 1 down, “SLR” was a clunker for me. SLR’s have been surpassed by mirrorless cameras for the better part of a decade. No pro I know still uses SLR’s. High school programs don’t use them either.
It looked odd to me too, but I assume it's a variant of "hot rod", meaning "fast car".
A street rod is a car set up for street racing, variation of hot rod.
With respect, I am not persuaded. A nomination is something made by a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. It's specific. An Oscar 'nod' may include a nomination within its broader meaning, but it also encompasses (for example) words written in newspapers or spoken on TV by movie critics and arts correspondents about actors, directors, or movies that they firmly believe ought to win an award - - frequently before a nomination has actually been made.
Rick, it’s not a natick for the simple reason that it’s not in the realm of Proper-Noun-or-Slangy-Could-Be-Dang-Near-Anything-ness. That is, it’s noodleable.
I mention this to help, not scold, as I also was mystified by IRR at first. What helped me was to _assume_ no natickery, as this isn’t always obvious, and to evaluate the answer without worrying about the clue. That posture allowed me to consider IRR as “irregular”, which I then cross-checked with the clue—OHHHHH, gregmark said—like weird-fitting boxer briefs.
Maybe that doesn’t help at all, but just in case, that’s how my brain handled that one… but not, ironically, the answer for “Handle” which I had as NADE on the stupid conviction that 43A had to be NOD. This cost me 10 minutes of solve but this has to be the last time! Rex has the scope of the issue mapped out in the write-up, along with the correct degree of suspiciousness to bring to the table for future encounters with such clue-age. Will I remember next time? We shall see.
Read an article about the ten ugliest--sounding words, e.g. "mucus", and I think SPUME belongs on that list.
> This is all to say that some slang feels very much of a (particular) generation and some of it just takes off among the general population and kind of loses its generational stink.
Silly Rex. STAN is Gen-Z all-the way. Sort of.
Consider “cool”. You’ve only got three years on me, so you should know that this is core Gen-X slang. But how!!! Because some slang follows a 4-stage maturation process:
Instantiation: 1930s southern black jazz culture
Acceleration: 1950s disenchanted GIs /beatniks
Infection: 1960s-70s counterculture cross-racial interchange
Acceptance: 1980s Gen X Youth
It’s that last phase that armors it for a long era-crossing run in core American vernacular.
Likewise, GenX handled the Infection phase of “sucks” but Millennials commanded the Acceptance protocols, ridding it at last of its prurient origins (remember how adults would get on kids for saying it…?).
Right now, GenZ has their finger on the trigger with the acceleration/infection of STAN, but the association with Eminem will make it hard to pass the Acceptance phase. We shall see. That’s up to the Alphas.
I have never in my life heard that term, a neither has basically any search engine.
Didnt know DDR, otherwise very easy.
Fairly straightforward, although it took a little while for the theme to come into view. Medium PACE. The grid felt a little choppy, with 30 "terrible threes" if I counted correctly (I forget what percentage would be considered high, but this comes near 25%), and so I never got a whoosh groove going on. In other words, it didn't really register as "groovy" for me.
To be frank, I wasn't terribly enamored of the puzzle. STREET ROD sounded odd to me. Something about having both TEENIE and EENSY in the same grid didn't SIT RIGHT. I wish they had chosen others to represent the (somewhat lackluster) TV STARS; no doubt you've heard the stories about how Ellen was a horror show behind the scenes, and Oprah was the one who brought us Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, and don't those two bring disrepute to the doctoral degree. THX much, Oprah. (And yes, don't like THX either. "I'm too busy a texter to type it out, so this is all the THX you'll get.") Oh, and please don't get me started again on ASHTON Kutcher. So in summary, there were not a few unpleasant associations brought on by this puzzle.
I guess you might respond "okay, boomer". Guilty as charged (I'm near the end of that generation). Never heard of SNACK as slang, but it sounds similar to "dishy". Nor SHIPPING. Now I have heard RIGHT ON, which I actually heard myself shout out repeatedly at the June No Kings Rally near my home town, as encouragement to the guest speakers, although I'm not sure I've ever used it at any other time of my life! Felt right in the SECOND, though.
Okay, gotta SPLIT, man. Have a good one.
We’re never going to get a Gen-X president, either. In the meantime, read this (language warning): https://gizmodo.com/generation-x-is-sick-of-your-bullshit-5851062
Agreed on Stan being millennial (or even late Gen-X) slang. Urban dictionary has its first relevant Stan definition in early 2006, when Gen-Z would have been 9, at most. Pretty sure the generation before them would have been more likely to 1) be familiar with the Eminem song from 2000 and 2) add it to the language.
Landing the theme well enough to use it was a long time coming for me - GHOST BUSTERS, YEA! SHIPPING? Had to Google that post-solve in order to see what slang that was because it was totally not in my knowledge repertoire.
Wackiest for me were STAN LAUREL and SPLIT SECOND. I agree with Rex that this was easy. I laughed at BOOK I, as opposed to an earlier puzzle's BOOK II that Rex didn't like as an answer.
Thanks, Gary and Doug, this was fun.
Me: Nice, a Hamlet clue. Must be from the “To be or not be” soliloquy, so I should be able get it.
My brain: It’s FARDLES. All it can be.
Me: No, it’s only three letters. Why don’t you recite the soliloquy and find other words for difficulty?
My brain: Because it’s FARDLES. Move on.
I don't even know what ages each generation is, much less which expressions are used by which generations. I refer to people as twenty-somethings; thirty-somethings, and so forth. We don't have enough divisions in the country today? We really need to name each new generation as it emerges from the womb and then encourage its pride in how it differs from every other generation? Bad idea! I have always thought this was an especially bad idea and it seems progressively worse as new and newly named generations keep coming along -- each one feeling unique and very special and extremely loyal to their generation. Can we please have less division in this country and not more?
This is sort of a minor peeve of mine. You probably wouldn't be wrong in telling me to lighten up, but you must admit it's a highly original peeve. I don't remember hearing anyone else saying anything quite like it, ever. Maybe I should write a book?
There's nothing wrong with this puzzle and many will enjoy it. It's an interesting idea if this is an idea that interests you. I dropped it because I really didn't care about the theme.
Loved reading about Smoky the Yorkie!
Was looking forward to a link to Ethel Cain’s NETTLES in this write up. Great song, great artist.
Yes - SMOKY the Yorkie! Who'd of thought?? A German Shepherd maybe but that cute little thing?
This was a surprising Sunday-I liked it!
Except for 87A SNACK Counter (luckily never heard of that reference) or Lefty-Loosey (clue) for that matter), ENISLE & DDR, a fun Sunday (without typos). Thank you, Doug :)
I have kids who are Millennials, so I'm somewhat up on their slang, but I have never heard the term SHIPPING for "promoting a romantic attachment." I had CHANGING LANES instead of SHIPPING LANES—though I didn't think it was quite right—and that, along with the fact that I didn't get PORTIA OR ARINA or MONS, stymied me in the SW corner. Disappointing after getting the rest of the puzzle fairly easily.
I agree with others that ENISLE is very odd. But "Green opening" was an especially great clue, as was "Difficulty, to Hamlet."
Thank you DOUG & GARY!
With respect that is not what NOD means at all. Just use your search engine on “Oscar nod”—it 100% means nomination. Weird to dispute it.
Do not pass up the opportunity to read about Smokey via the link Rex provided. Rex gave a nice summary. The linked article is glorious.
Easy. No real problems and plenty of whoosh. CHITON was the most notable WOE (Hi @Rex).
Me too for AMBIGUOUS at first.
Cute and mildly amusing, liked it.
Nice to have a Sunday that puts up a little fight. I have been used to flying through the answers like it's a Tuesday, but not this week. Still finished in slightly above average time but was genuinely surprised not to have any mistakes. 35:38
I find it so interesting that you dropped it so quickly when there are so many other aspects of the puzzle that you usually appreciate, such as good cluing (including clever misdirectes); unusual, appealing words as answers; a fun sub-theme (dogs).... It would have been worth your time, I think.
Oh, Sunday, Bloody Sunday. 21 x 21. Approximately 140 answers (I’m prone to miscounting.) And none of them terribly interesting. Why do I do this to myself?
Oh, well, at least I got to smoke a decent cigar and listen to some good music.
I never got to this clue. But I just recited the soliloquy in my head -- and if it's a 3-letter word, the word is RUB. "Aye, there's the rub..." AMIRITE?
A street rod is a reinforced metal bar used in roadway construction.
Just kidding, but if you google the term a lot of customized car stuff comes up, including a video game.
I left the STREETRO_/EN_ER cross for last but I was pretty sure it was D because I got that "drag" was racing and I made the connection to hot rods. But I don't think I've ever heard of a STREET ROD.
None of them? I'd say there were at least a few: STAN LAUREL. And Shakespeare's PORTIA. She's the one who said the quality of mercy is not strained. Makes you wonder what keeps it from getting lumpy.
*Mostly* easy-ish, but the penultimate bottom block was brutal. I was *certain* that 117D "Head of production?" was PrE... as it fulfilled the ? role perfectly, and I was blinded to any other letter filling the gap. PEE is not nearly as satisfying. Wanted usb instead of LAN at 118D "PC connection" and being completely stumped at 101D "Maroon, in a way" with ENIS - - having to run the alphabet and use multiple puzzle checks until I was staring blankly at ENISLE. "en-iss-lay"?? "en-nissle"?? I mouthed until it finally dawned on me: EN - ISLE.... Jaw drop. I think I would rather be marooned than have to add "ENISLE" to my vocabulary. It should be ENISLE-ated from the English language.
You've convinced me, Anon 11:23. I'll go back.
DDR is Dance Dance Revolution, a rhythm based arcade game you play with your feet on a light-up dance floor
I thought it was a really creative theme! Transforming common phrases into forms of generational slang - SMH, as the youngsters text, in admiration over the constructors' seeing the potential. I'm extremely hazy on which post-baby boom Gen is which, but, thankfully, it wasn't necessary to know that in order to solve the puzzle, and I had fun all the way. I felt at right at home with SPLIT and RIGHT ON, and cozy enough with FLY, GHOST, STAN, and CHILL, but SNACK and SHIPPING had to come from crosses. Really liked the long Downs, was happy to find CHITON, PORTIA, and IRINA in the Humanities section of my mental junk drawer. Thanks to the constructors for leaving me with a smile.
Oooh - GROOVY. I wonder who would lay claim to that one - late boomers I suppose. It had probably died out by the late sixties, although “Groovy kind of love” has had staying power beyond its merits.
SUCKS has had a darn good run though - that one goes back about as far as I can remember. I don’t know if it still has currency with anyone under thirty these days though. Interesting topic, probably better suited for quiet contemplation than fierce debate (speaking of fierce debate - anyone else surprised by the big NOM vs NOD dispute? To me, it seems like much ado about nothing, but many seem to have pretty strong opinions on the matter).
You guys should ck out the site BAT (bring a trailer) for a daily fix of street rods & car porn generally. Fabulous mix from vintage tractors, steam locos, ejector seats, luggage, literature & on & on.
Perhaps so but for crossword purposes can be TLR also
Well hey -- I knew both the Boomer slang words. Also knew: CHILL. GHOST [Halloween meat]. STAN [thanx to xwordpuzs].
sooo ... only FLY, SNACK, & SHIPPING were news to m&e.
Sorta suspected what the puztheme was up to, but weren't quite sure until I'd seen several themers in action.
staff weeject pick: DDR. Nice no-know puz finale entry.
fave stuff: AMBIGUITY & clue. TOPBANANA. UNSCREWS clue. OLDDEBT clue. Jaws of Sundayness.
Thanx for gangin up on us, Mr. Larson & Peterson dudes. My solvequest generation gaps were showin, at times.
Masked & Anonymo9Us
... this next offerin sure ain't no smoky therapy dog ...
Stumpy Stumper: "Wiener Dog Runt #80" - 16x3.5 12 min. themeless runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
At 27A, NETTLES ("Stinging plants") reminds some of us of the Yankees' Gold Glove third baseman from '73 to '83, Graig Nettles. When Sparky Lyle was traded by the Yanks, Nettles quipped "He went from Cy Young to sayonara." Nettles was mentioned in the video of Springsteen's Glory Days: Bruce says Nettles "got him" in the bottom of the ninth in an imaginary game.
I didn’t get a harumph out of that guy.
Great story about Smoky. Well worth the read.
This just wasn't my kind of puzzle, @Liveprof, and I wasn't enjoying the solve - especially the clunky, overbuilt theme clues - so I guess i just got too negative about it and neglected to look for the good parts. STAN LAUREL was pretty good and CHILL IN THE AIR wasn't bad. But, like @Nancy, I don't really care much for these generational descriptors so I sorta hate-solved it.
Surprised at the commenters who'd never heard of street rods.
There was one clue /answer I thought wrong that I've not seen other comments about.
Courtyard/atria??? I think of them as two very different things.
Enjoyed the puzzle and the slang/not slang themes. Ignored the generation s in parenthesis as I did not see what they had to do with it.
@Nancy, I've never thought of the Named generations as promoting divisions but I do think the whole thing is stupid. Just because there was a baby boom, shortly after WWII and that generation got called boomers, why try to come up with a name for each generation after? Meaningless, boring, sometimes confusing. Enough already.
I did not know about IRINA, MONS or SHIPPING so that did me in. Puzzles like this one make me feel like a washed-up old fogey.
I haven't read y'all yet, but I hope I'm not the only one who altogether screwed up SE corner by thinking USB instead of "LAN" - and still think USB fits with connection very well!
Aha, now I see I wasn't the only one with USB !
First site my husband visits every morning
Yikes what a slog. I got one third done last night and got fed up and quit. I ground my way through it this morning and finished with an error. Clicked "Check all letters" to find that the "Commencement ritual" at 92 down was not a CUP TOSS. I forgot that "commencement" can mean graduation... it's weird because graduate means "leave" but commence means "start".
And then there's IRINA crossing PORTIA which I got correctly, but yeesh.
"Groovy" was going strong in the late 60s and early 70s. This Google Books Ngram shows a CREST around 1971-1972; it hits a trough around 1985. Considering for example its frequent occurrence in The Brady Bunch, a wildly popular series, it had to have been very much in the collective consciousness during the run of that show (1969-1974).
(I wish I could track down the live performance of Simon and Garfunkel's The 59th Street Bridge Song, where it looked like they couldn't sing "feelin' groovy" any longer with a straight face. But IMO, the word comes from good stock. The concept of "groove" in music is probably here to STAY.)
Groove Is In The Heart.
"Sucks" in the slang sense is well understood these days by basically everybody except maybe small children. I predict that will be around for a very long time.
Yes, I'm following the NOM-NOd kealoa exchange with some interest! But I think I know where I stand there.
Late to the party today as our church organist/pianist was away and I was called on as the emergency backup accompanist, so with my trusty guitar and three or four chords I filled in. I was rewarded with some compliments and some thanks and no dollars, but at least banked some good karma.
Very wavelenghty here. I disregarded which generation was cited and just filled in most answers easily. SNACK and SHIPPING were new but easy from crosses. I even looked at the blank next to the K in SNACK (before I had SNACK) and thought, I wonder if that's aa C, hmmm CHITON?, which I knew from somewhere, I assume reading Plato many years ago. No real idea, but I'lll take it.
Today's other memory attic answer was STREETROD, which is a book I read in high school, the precursor to Hot Rod, both by Henry Gregor Felsen, an author I haven't thought of in probably sixty years, but somehow there it was and that's just a little spooky.
Enjoyed your Sunday offering, GL and DP. Got Lots of answers right away, Derived Pleasure from some dusty recollections, and generally enjoyed myself thoroughly. Thanks for all the fun.
Smoky was my Dad's dog. She died when I was six. Dad passed away at 99 in 2021. He'd have been over the moon (a generational reference, LOL) to see Smoky in the Sunday NYT crossword.
Smoky is in 12 memorials/museums and will be part of the National Service Animals Monument that's to be built in Washington DC.
I always thought "FLY" meant "pretty" or "attractive." The usage here was new to me.
Let's ask a skateboarder, after he's finished doing his OLLIES . . .
"FLY" meaning "pretty" or "attractive" (usually referring to a woman or a girl) has been common in African American vernacular for many decades, probably over a century at this point.
We've had monickers for generations in the U.S. for at least a century at this point, going all the way back to the "Silent Generation" (b. approx. 1925–1945). They were followed by the post-war Baby Boomers (1946–1964) and Generation X (1965–1980). After that, I pretty much lost track when they began raiding the Greek alphabet. Still waiting for "Gen Omega" to come along.
Do you know any professional photographers?? Pretty much all professional photographers use SLRs lol. Source: I'm a professional photographer
Southside Johnny
I don’t like the sound of SPUME but it most definitely exists outside of crossworld. It isn’t all that rare, referring to ocean waves. ( Goes along with CRESTS I guess). Agree about the other 2
To be fair to the puzzle, Portia is from one of the most produced Shakespeare plays Same with Chekhov and his character, so it is a wheel house issue not something arcane.
Anonymous 9:52 AM
About SPUME
I agree!
While I don’t really support Nancy’s soliloquy about names for generations creating more divisions in our society, I agree with her comments. Their designations were of absolutely no help to me (I’m 89 and have no idea of what my generation is). I just plodded along until I recognized or remembered the saying. Overall, I solved it fairly easily with a couple of Googles thrown in.
FWIW Okanaganer
Commencement so-called because it is the start of a new phase in the graduate’s life.
I loved the story about the yorkie. Never actually read about it before. Also my Dad was in New Guinea and the Philippines. He must have heard the story when it became national news.
Thanks Rex for linking the story.
I thought the puzzle was well done. The non slang phrases were well chosen.
Stan Laurel with the clue I thought was the best. I don’t think the amount of theme answers overtaxed the rest of the puzzle either.
El pedante más pedante de todos.
Run of the mill Sunday edition. Pleasant. Mostly harmless.
GHOSTBUSTERS is pretty funny. CHITON is pretty obscure. OLYMPUS MONS is just pretty.
Do you ever wonder if kids actually do make nutritious meals?
The next latte I order I am going to order it with extra SPUME. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to drink the final product though.
❤️ TOP BANANA.
😩 YEASTS. EN ISLE.
People: 16
Places: 6
Products: 7
Partials: 12
Foreignisms: 5
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 46 of 140 (33%)
Funny Factor: 7 🙂
Tee-Hee: SNACK COUNTER. TEENIE-WEENIE PEE WEE. UNSCREWS GSPOT.
Uniclues:
1 Clock watching low rider.
2 Reason for rage resting on the recliner.
3 Where to find witches floating.
4 Amount of time it takes to be offended by management.
5 Most small-minded squeezer.
6 Blazer emblems have foot fetishes.
1 RIGHT ON TIME STREET ROD
2 ROIDS CHILLIN' IN THE AIR
3 WICCA SHIPPING LANES (~)
4 UNION REP'S SPLIT SECOND
5 PETTIEST CLOTHES PIN
6 CRESTS ENVY BOOTIES
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Pants with tiny secrets. MICRODOT BRITCHES.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@SharonAK 2:27 PM
The reason you think of courtyard and atria as very different things is because they are totally different things. A courtyard is an outdoor area and an atria is a class enclosed inner space. Every time they run an atria clue, it's clear they don't know what it is.
@Anon: okay, that makes sense I guess. Maybe it's a regional phrase? I don't recall hearing it in real life (western Canada). Now "grad" I've heard a zillion times.
I was wondering whether MONS would make the Tee-Hee list.
I want to see that article. I don't know that mucus sounds ugly, but it has sticky, slimy connotations which I suppose is the source of the turn-off. (Compare the words mucilage, mucilaginous.)
SPUME reminds one of "spew", which has connotations of spit or spittle, and all these things are wet and frothy. Such things are often disgusting to people, but disgust as an emotion could be largely dependent on cultural background. Weren't we talking about ant eggs recently?
(Ugliness of words based purely on sound would be an interesting topic, but it's too late in the day to embark upon it now.)
They should have clued Ryan Gosling for Ken
When I figured out that we weren’t going to get a clever reveal that pulled this theme together, I was so disappointed. I was also irritated that the constructors to ought it necessary to clue the generation connecting the theme answer with its generation. It was clear that all the theme answers were slang terms, and without a reveal, I saw no reason to add the parenthetical. Or I could be missing something.
The bylines today made me excited to dive in. Unfortunately, the solve didn’t live up to my expectations. Became a bit of a slog about halfway through. My favorite word today was FILCH. TEENIE and EENSY in the sMe puzzle seemed like it may have been the solution to a couple tough spots during construction.
Serviceable. See y’all mañana.
Incredibly difficult puzzle for me. Relatively young Gen Z-er and have never heard of STAN LAUREL (I know, I’m sorry), WICCA, CHITON, SPUME, etc.
I like to think of myself as knowing a decent amount of words but I’ve never heard of Liverpudlian, nor Briton (despite both my parents being from Liverpool :p).
Also don’t understand what BOOTIES is trying to say (80D: Disposable items by the door of an open house, perhaps). Only BOOTIES I’ve ever heard of are the galoshes-type (or the pirate-type).
Never heard of LYIN Eyes by the Eagles, or the ELI Young Band, or an OBI (Kimono closer), or KLM, or a TAM, yada yada yada.
Never had such a difficult Sunday solve. Took me over an hour. Then again, I’m relatively new to XW, only have a few months of experience, and hoping I remember a lot of these for next time. Thanks for the write up!
Rex
Do you have puzzles you created that we all can see?
I have NEVER heard of “stan” meaning “ardent fan.” This was complete news to me. And I am over 50.
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