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Classic arcade game with bull's-eye rings / MON 11-17-25 / Sch. with a T station / Boot, good, loom, moon, pool, rook, woof / Tot's three-wheeler
Monday, November 17, 2025
Constructor: Rena Cohen
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- FIGURE EIGHT (17A: Circle, cone, cube, cylinder, heart, pentagon, star, triangle) (eight figures)
- SWEET SIXTEEN (27A: Airheads, Dots, Fun Dip, Heath, Kit Kat, Life Savers, M&M's, Milk Duds, Nerds, Oh Henry!, Peeps, Pez, Rolo, Skittles, Twix, Twizzlers) (sixteen sweets)
- DOUBLE-O SEVEN (44A: Boot, good, loom, moon, pool, rook, woof) (seven double-"o" words)
- JACKSON FIVE (60A: Andrew, Ketanji Brown, Mahalia, Reggie, Stonewall) (five Jacksons) (none of them actual members of the Jackson Five, nice)
Mahalia Jackson (/məˈheɪliə/ mə-HAY-lee-ə; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S. During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records and performing in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world, making her one of the best-selling gospel music artists. [...] Nationwide recognition came for Jackson in 1947 with the release of "Move On Up a Little Higher", selling two million copies and hitting the number-two spot on Billboard charts, both firsts for gospel music. Jackson's recordings captured the attention of jazz fans in the U.S. and France, and she became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe. She regularly appeared on television and radio, and performed for many presidents and heads of state, including singing the national anthem at John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Ball in 1961. Motivated by her experiences living and touring in the South and integrating a Chicago neighborhood, she participated in the civil rights movement, singing for fundraisers and at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. She was a vocal and loyal supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and a personal friend of his family. (wikipedia)
• • •
Experimenting with a star rating system. Might not last, but I'm gonna see how it goes. Three stars is basically Good Enough—the minimum for a Thumbs Up. I expect most puzzles will come in in the two- to four-star range, with the one- and five-star ratings being reserved for puzzles that are truly exceptional (in either direction).
Bullets:
- 4D: "If you want me to be honest ..." ("I MUST SAY...") — The clue is conditional, but the answer isn't, so this clue/answer pairing feels ... off. "If you want me to be honest" implies that some other person wants your opinion. "I MUST SAY..." is a declaration of your own need to offer that opinion, whether anyone wants it or not.
- 33D: Like most cheeses with rinds (AGED) — cheese, four letters, rind ... crossword reflex caused me to write EDAM before I'd really thought about it. This was quickly fixed.
- 22D: Sch. with a T station (MIT) — the "T" is the nickname of Boston's transit system, the "Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority":
- 39D: Classic arcade game with bull's-eye rings (SKEE-BALL) — "Classic arcade game" makes me think only of the stand-up video games I played so often as a kid. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Frogger, that sort of thing. So it took my brain a few seconds to move to a much older, pre-digital format of arcade game ... which I also played as a kid. Showbiz Pizza had an arcade that featured both video games and SKEE-BALL, so I spent a lot of time trying to roll the ball into the center of those "bull's-eye rings"; you can see the SKEE-BALL lanes in the background of this poorly edited home video of a Colorado Showbiz circa 1990.
- 11D: Insect that stings (BUMBLE BEE) — a nice symmetrical animal counterpart to GROUND HOG. You've got Punxsutawney Phil heralding more winter and the BUMBLE BEE declaring the arrival of spring. I had some trouble parsing this answer—the last answer I filled in, because so few of the crosses were easy to infer as a Downs-only solver. The first and third "E"s were the only things I was (pretty) sure of. I thought "OK, what stings" and ran through wasp, ant, and bee ... saw that BUMBLE BEE would fit but honestly thought, "do those even sting?" They always look so harmless, these big puffballs floating around. But yes, they can sting. I feel like there's even a children's song about it. I'll let Ms. Rachel sing it for you.
["Female bumblebees can sting repeatedly, but generally ignore humans and other animals" (wikipedia)]
And now here's a different bee-related song to rid your brain of that grating toddler music (I was listening to this album last night during cocktail hour, so it's on my mind).
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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96 comments:
Easy but enjoyable. Getting one theme answer made all the others a cinch.
@Rex: I like the star ratings; please keep it up. I seem to recall at one time you were rating puzzles ABCDF. That was okay too.
I disagree about Peeps. Granted, you wouldn't give them out as trick-or-treats, but the answer wasn't candy SIXTEEN, it was SWEET SIXTEEN. And Peeps are undeniably sweet.
Fun, easy Monday. No overwrites or WOEs.
You’re right. Though they are an abomination.
My five favorite original clues from last week
(in order of appearance):
1. Two-cent pieces? (2)-(3)
2. Material for a certain pocket (4)
3. Liner notes? (3)(6)
4. Command that initiates a chase (2)(5)
5. Exclamation often made while covering the face (5)
OP-EDS
PITA
SEA SHANTY
GO FETCH
ACHOO
My favorite encore clues from last week:
[Make it] (3)
[Cellular data plan?] (3)
TAG
DNA
Peeps are marshmallow, which is a candy. And today is a perfect example of me shaking my head and sighing at Rex. By not solving the puzzle seeing/using the Across clues, you're missing the point. And the enjoyment. And the integral content.
Downs-only snags:
- YEP for DEF, which didn't help with the kealoa LONGS/PINES FOR. And with IPE_ER I considered the possibility of I PETER, the Bible book. Not exactly good fill.
- NADA before NONE gives valid, albeit 50% clunky, Across answers. Luckily I realized that there's no reason to have DAH and ODO in such a tiny corner.
Slowest solve time in ages. Very enjoyable Monday puzzle. Peeps are DEF a seasonal abomination!
I agree! I really don’t get the appeal of downs-only solving. And as for Peeps, an abomination, yes perhaps, but also a sign of spring, and what would the world be without some dreadful candies that we know we shouldn’t eat.
Since constructors seem always to be looking for new ways to clue 62A, I might suggest another: what you say to yourself every time a new clue is proffered for this former Beatle spouse..
Easy, breezy downs-only solve, until I got to the SW and tried Nada instead of NONE. That gave me three plausible but incorrect crosses: [La-di-___] DaH, [___meter] OdO, and [Zoom meeting annoyance] LaG. Oh well . . .
I lean favorable on the rating system overall, but make the stars more subtle.
E=mc^2
FORMULA ONE
I rarely try to solve downs only, but I’m guessing that today would be a good day for one, as the theme answers are all recognizable phrases on a stand-alone basis.
I seem to recall some of those SWEET SIXTEEN as being a little on the tart side (DOTS, LIFESAVERS, PEZ). I also think of MILK DUDS as being more chocolate-y than sweet (and definitely chewy). Anyone with recent experience - are they all in fact sugar bombs? I’m going by ancient memory, it’s probably been 40 years since I last tried a milk dud.
Fun puzzle. Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Spica, Rigel, Sirius.
Medium-hard for me, but maybe I spent too long thinking about 27A (the first themer I encountered) instead of moving on. I actually counted the number of candies, and then figured that answer would be "sixteen candies", as a pun on "sixteen candles". When that wouldn’t fit, I finally moved on.
I have Halloween Peeps (skulls) sitting open on my counter now waiting for the proper hardness to set in. Abomination, NO! A year round obsession for me.
There are so many advantages to downs-only solving. It makes an easy puzzled much more challenging. And it’s fun to try to figure out the theme without having seen the clues for themers. But to each their own.
Hey All !
No Best Ever Reese's Cups in the candy? C'mon now...
Neat puz. Surprised OFL didn't get mad at the outlier O in DOUBLE O SEVEN, as the other three are just [thing][number] with nothing twixt them. I got a smile from the Theme whilst solving.
Akin to BUMBLEBEE, I have a 2005 Dodge Ram Rumble Bee that I bought brand new in 2005. I keep the milage low, it's at 25k and change, gonna sell it at Barrett-Jackson auto auction when I retire, to help with the after-work finances. Original owner, low mileage low production specialty truck.
Also GROUNDHOG, I went to Groundhog Day in 2002. Big crowd, as it was partly because of the date, 02/02/02, but partly because it was soon after 9/11(/01), and people were defiant about gathering together in crowds to show the terrorists we weren't afraid. Fun time, but cold!
All that bragging aside 😁, nice MonOuz, average time, fun theme, good fill. ALLIN, SOLID!
Have a great Monday!
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Very clever and fun puzzle. JACKSONFIVE doesn’t quite measure up for me, not because of who it’s clued with, but because JACKSON isn’t really repurposed — the original is *already* the surname of a quintet. Other than that, top marks.
Easier than normal downs only for me. Which means I loved it. I only had one or two answers left before I had to look at a few across clues, so I count that as a win. Closest I’ve come to a complete downs only solve. But I guess I was tired last night because I didn’t even see the theme clues until I came here! Wow, very cute!
Oh, it’s a terrific theme, with SOLID interesting answers, not to mention the fun kind of answers that make you want to come up with more. What a hoot!
Add a well-scrubbed answer set that includes symmetrical fauna cuteness (BUMBLEBEE, GROUNDHOG), and the lovely PuzzPair© of STRIP/NUDE.
Oh, and SKEEBALL triggered the marvelous specific childhood memory of how amazing it felt to get the ball into the little middle circle. That feeling never lessened. Hadn’t thought about that in forever, and I remember that feeling exactly.
I remember also, with a smile, Rena’s last puzzle, which featured, of all things, the varieties of pretzels. That puzzle was feel-good, and so was this.
What a terrific way to start the day. Thank you, Rena!
Thumbs up for both the rating system generally, and for four stars today.
But worse than EKES/OKING/EIEIO, Peeps (disgusting), even the slavery-supporting Jacksons, in terms of pure Ick Factor, is the children's song where the otherwise cheerful singer squishes an innocent (baby, no less) bumblebee in her bare hands. Why? Because it had the audacity to defend itself after being abducted? Good grief, who wrote that song? No, mommy isn't proud of you. It would be an insult to Ms. Jackson, but more info (which research I will now undertake) might have been offered had this instead have been WOTD.
Add ACNE before SKIN and these were my snags as well.
Yes! I well remember playing Skeeball on the boardwalk in Long Beach... 50 short years ago.
I'm always give it an arched eyebrow when clued as a musician
Agree with the rather obvious observation that PEEPS are SWEET and definitely belong. I mean, really.
Worked down and then across, ran into the JACKSONFIVE, and the jig was up and the others were easy. Didn't know (remember) ELLE and today I discovered MID, which I will try to make part of my up-to-date vocabulary.
Nice breezy Monday, liked all the themers. Really Charming, RC, and thanks for all the fun.
Cake is sweet. It doesn’t belong. I mean, really. (Peeps is obvi an outlier here and it’s weird y’all can’t/won’t see that)
Was just playing SKEEBALL and Pac-Man and Frogger and others this weekend at a local arcade that is definitely catering to Xennial nostalgia. Enjoyed the puzzle and found it to be mostly a smooth solve, even though for some reason I entered I NEVER instead of IF EVER (which I knew didn’t really fit the clue, but neither did I MUST SAY, as Rex pointed out), and since the incorrect N cross a slang term I just assumed anything could work there. That is DEF my fault though, not the puzzle’s.
It’s truly a feel-good morning when Rex and @Lewis share basically the same good vibes. Seems to me that Peeps and Puns share a common characteristic—both are simply groan-worthy to many people but are also irresistible to many others for the same reason. Anyway, a thought…
Mrs. Egs: Egs, do you ever fever?
Egs: I'll give you a fiver IFEVER IFEVER.
Mrs. Egs: Welp, a lot of people want to know. All five of our lines are tied up with curious people.
Egs: Like who?
Mrs. Egs: We'll I'm not sure about the first four, but JACKSONFIVE.
Egs: That PEST? IRATE him MID at best.
Mrs. Egs: And lots are coming to dinner, too.
Egs: How many?
Mrs. Egs: FIGUREEIGHT. And some are rock stars! Like Ozzy Osborne.
Egs: DOUBLEOSEVEN coming?
Mrs. Egs: No, he died. But some rock stars who like Ozzy Osborne are coming.
Egs: ONO
Mrs. Egs: No, she declined.
I'm so sorry. Sometimes I just get going and can't stop myself. Thanks for a funny Monday, Rena Cohen.
Here's a riddle for you: Which theme "item" could also appear in a different theme answer? I'll leave some space.
REGGIE. REGGIE! is the name of a candy bar named after Reggie Jackson. While Reggie was playing for Baltimore, he lamented that if only he were playing in NY, he'd be so popular they'd name a candy bar after him. And that's what happened when he became a Yankee. The REGGIE! bar was produced for three years. Catfish Hunter, commenting on Reggie's massive ego, said it's the only candy bar that, when you take the wrapper off, tells you how good it is.
And get this! -- TIL it's being produced again. Amazon's selling a 24-bar box for $43. (Back in the 70s each one cost a quarter.) On Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, April 13, 1978, the Yankees gave out Reggie! bars to fans as they entered the ballpark as a promotion. Reggie homered in the bottom of the first and when he took the field the next inning he was showered with Reggie bars by the fans. The game had to be stopped as the grounds crew cleaned up hundreds of bars.
My first guess for 1-A was Sands, as I vaguely remembered there was a place there called "The Sands" (turns out there's a "The Sands Motel," and a "Sands Hotel;" I quit there rather than researching the difference), which blocked that corner for me. So I went on to ACRID, worked the crosses, and at one point was staring at _____EEI__T -- an unlikely vowel sequence. But I backed up, got SAFER and TRIKE, and FIGUE EIGHT was obvious. At that point I jumped ahead and filled in all the other themers, making the puzzle extremely easy.
I've never tried either, but aren't PALEO and KETO pretty much the same in diet lingo?
Not much more to say; fun puzzle, not sure about the stars.
Rats, I wasn't signed in. I suppose my comment will post anyway, so I won't try to repeat it, except that it was very easy once you got any one of the theme answers.
Good one!
I most enjoy solving, whenever possible, by putting in only answers that already touch letters in the puzzle. It makes it both challenging and fun. I think this is what my mother did and most crossword mavens did.
Solved downs-only, had feMaLEBEES instead, with fAR, eSE, and mAAS. Thought I was cooking. Alas.
Definitely a fun puzzle I don’t know how long I looked at “doubleoseven” before I saw it!
So Meh is already passe? I forgot to check the crosses for 16A so a two letter DNF on a Monday.
I enjoyed the theme concept a lot. I got it right away but it's one of those themes where you still get the thrill of revealing of the theme answers, even if you can guess them with the first couple of letters.
Thanks for a SWEET Monday solve, Rena Cohen!
One small request on the star system: I keep my phone on grayscale mode (it makes it marginally less addictive) and all five stars look the same. I had to turn on color to see the rating. Would you mind adding some other indicator? Eg maybe the "empty" stars can be an outline or something other than grayed out? Or even just not shown? Or maybe a numeric indicator (eg "4/5") next to the image? It would be much appreciated!
I threw my REGGIE! bar at him that day. He hit it out on the first pitch, giving him four consecutive home runs on four consecutive pitches at the stadium (including 1977 game six).
No, no! My fav sweet—just the yellow ones though!!
*****FIVE STARS FROM ME
Opportunity for an Ed Grimley reference with "I Must Say." I think Martin Short would have appreciated it.
Cute theme, easily grasped. The only area that gave me some resistance was the SE corner, where I started with Party of Five instead of JACKSON FIVE and had to work my way out of that. I don't love the clue for IF EVER (Skeptic's remark) but that's a small quibble. Picturing a RHINO doing a FIGURE EIGHT is fun. Thanks for the good Monday puzzle , Rena!
ROCKAWAY BEACH FOR ME!
MIT doesn't have a T station. The station is Kendall, named after the square.
Crystal Beach in Canada across the Peace Bridge from Buffalo.
I had one the other night for the first time in decades — your memory serves you well with respect to chewiness, and they are indeed chocolatey. I would say sweet as well, about what you would expect for a Halloween candy.
ditto
I agree with Anonymous 6:32 and JB; it doesn't feel as though you're doing a CROSSword puzzle if you don't experience the crossing aspect. I also never rush through, because I enjoy reading and appreciating the clues. But, as Wanderlust says, to each their own. Maybe one day I'll get bored with my own approach and try fast-as-yu-can Downs-only solving.
Medium. MIT was it for WOEs and no costly erasures. I did pause briefly to ponder why a skeptic would say I FEVER?
Clever, cute, and smooth, an ideal Monday, liked it a bunch!
Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #1062 was mostly easy for a Croce except for the Center West. I stared at that section for a looong time because I was sure I had an error. Turns out I didn’t but I’m still puzzled by a couple of the answers there. Good luck!
Not my fastest downs-only solve. Mostly easy but I was held up in 3 particular areas:
In the NE, I couldn’t wrap my head around BUMBLE BEE. I have co-existed with bees of both the honey and bumble variety for most of my life and I can’t recall getting stung. They are rather placid creatures, actually. Don’t get too aggressive with them and they won’t get aggressive with you. I actually adore bumblebees. They’re just so, you know, bumbly. So I was trying to think of some kind of hornet. They can be aggressive stingers, but usually only when you get too close to their nests. I speak from painful experience. Mea culpa and ouch!
In the SE I wanted aches FOR and couldn’t infer enough crosses to quickly switch to PINES. But I figured it out eventually.
In the SW corner where I had Nada for zero, which looked fine with short crosses DaH (maybe Morse code?), OdO (prefix for meter, maybe?), and LaG. When I didn’t get the congrats tune I began reviewing the puzzle for my error (usually a typo) still using only the downs and couldn’t find one. I began to get a bit panicky. I consider it a fail if I have to check the cross clues. On my next review of that section I wondered if OdO could actually be old friend Yoko ONO. Yes! Nada was NONE and we were done. And we’d had some fun.
I don’t think I’ve seen this theme before. Liked it.
Marshmallows are considered a type of sugar confectionery (candy). And Peeps are marshmallows. That means they're candy, no matter how abominable you think they are. They're fun to watch blow up in the microwave....
Everyone has their own rating system. I like 4 stars personally, and Id give this one all 4. Combination of super theme and clues, minimal boring fill. Easy throughout, but medium time because I went back over the clues each time after I got the themer, to enjoy it more. DOUBLEOSEVEN was a treat. Add in downs like BUMBLEBEE GROUNDHOG and SKEEBALL, and you've got a winner
You can give it 4/5 but I'm not going to wait for a better one Thanks Rena, I'll look for your name again
I'm a fan of the star system, why not? 15A (Heavyweight African animal, informally) is a fun KEALOA, where it could either be RHINO or hippO -- I wonder if this was intentional. The theme was fun, though I'm not sure about FIGURE EIGHT. I can get behind all the other themers, which are pretty bright and playful, but somehow I can't get FIGURE EIGHT to not sound off in my head, even with a dose of artistic license. Maybe that's just me.
Oh, and a nice touch that the king of rock ELVIS is hanging out with the JACKSON FIVE which featured the king of pop. My grandmother always liked Mahalia Jackson's rendition of silent night, which is the only reason I've heard of her.
Milk Duds: my movie treat of choice since forever - I would say that the caramel center definitely makes them sweet. And also a hazard for dental work. I swore them off after my brother had a crown pulled off by a Milk Dud during a Barbie showing.
@Liveprof and @Anonymous - I love this lore! Thank you!
A "sweet" puzzle (GROAN) & very enjoyable. Skee Ball brought back memories of the Boardwalk at Coney Island with my baby cousins & made me :)
they must get stale!
then its peeps time. yes!
I often try to impose a structural constraint when possible: fill all the way across the puzzle then down or all the way down then across, think window shade or sliding door
I wanted SPHERE
Ditto from me on all the appreciation for this treat of a Monday, with an extra smile for DOUBLE O SEVEN. And I know. that symmetrical theme placement is a given - but I thought that was really impressive today. I wonder if the constructor anticipated that Peeps would be divisive :)
First time I’ve noticed that GROUNDHOG and WOODCHUCK both have nine letters.
Ow Contrair, @RP dude -- U shoulda rated this here primo puz as: Betelgeuse, Sirius, Vega, Deneb.
[Do not say that first one 3 times, in yer future ratings, btw.]
staff weeject pick: MID. That's slang for MEH, now?? Ah well ... 6-7.
some fave stuff: ELVIS. BUMBLEBEE & GROUNDHOG. STRIP & DOT [cuz young M&A met his first and only hooker ever on the Vegas STRIP, and her name was DOTty*]. The record-settin length of that there 27-A clue.
Thanx for the fun inventory work, Ms. Cohen darlin. Real cool puztheme and nice, smoooth fillins. The Shortzmeister shoulda paid U double, IM&AO.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
... and now, for a Zeta Puppis-ish xword ...
"Altered States" - 9x7 12 min. themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
p.s. * Dotty wanted $50 -- much more than young M&A could spare, soooo ... he remained a virgin.
A delightful beginning of a Monday morning. Lots of smiles. Beautiful symmetry too.
@Anon 6:48 am, I had NULL before NONE which gives DUH which convinced me it was good.
This went pretty smoothly down clues only, but as Rex said without reading the theme clues you miss a big part of the actual theme. But then when you read the clues, it's like: yeah!
As I mentioned in another comment, I finished with NULL instead of NONE because DUH looked so good at 59 across.
Oh, and I have been stung and bitten quite often, but never ever by a BEE. Usually it's a yellowjacket, and I always get stung because I didn't know it was there. I do have a ton of Paper Wasps around my house; they make the paper hives that hang from the eaves, and they fly kinda clumsily with their legs hanging down. Not only have they never stung me, this happened once: I felt something land on my head, so I reached up and grasped it.. yikes!, a Paper wasp. I opened my fingers and it flew calmly away.
The theme answer that really made me grin was double seven. Jackson five did ot immediately ring a memory bell for me. But I liked their dance routine in the video Rex posted
Anyone else having problems with the NYT games app crashing on IOS 26?
Why the past tense?:0
Love that line from Catfish!
Not sure I understand the answer to the clue, "For sureties". Is DEF supposed to be short for DEFINITELY? Does anybody actually say that?
ChriS
I've never played 39D SKEEBALL. I'm only aware that it exists because, in one of the early scenes of Kevin Smith's brilliant satire/spoof/deep questioning of Catholocism, Dogma (1999, I think), God takes on human form and comes to earth to play skee ball at a seaside arcade (Atlantic City? Coney Island? I can't recall.) and is somehow incapacitated by nefarious agents and ends up on life support in the hospital. The kind of metaphor Smith likes to play with. One of my all-time favourite movies. You can read about it on rogerebert.com.
BTW, Alanis Morissette is hilarious as (resuscitated) God, and Alan Rickman is brilliant as her "voice".
I won't give it a star rating because I think that just over simplifies my appreciation of it. Please, @Rex, don't go to a star system. It will just Yelpify the blog. The stars are not important; the analysis is.
Can we please stop picking on Yoko Ono. She's a smart, creative woman, a respected artist in the Fluxus movement. Her experimental tastes in music are just that - experimental - attempts at new forms, often with important historical antecedents. And she did NOT cause the Beatles to break up. No one person did that.
Nice. And compared to bumblebees I don't find paper wasps all that clumsy. I bet if you'd tried to kill it you'd have a pretty swollen hand. Live and let live.
Question: Is the Saturday Stumper that some of you talk about the one by Stanley Newman that runs on Saturday in Newsday? I think I I found it on Brainsonly.com. The 11/16 puzzle was called "Who's the Boss?" Thanks in advance....
@Les, yes I've read that the Paper Wasp sting is quite painful. But the ones around my house seem quite laid back and they don't usually pester or harass me, unlike the yellowjackets.
Anonymous 6:33 am
And the rest.I never do downs only but I developed a habit in the 50 years I have been doing the Times puzzle of doing across first then downs, 7 days a week. I guess you can call it a constraint but there’s no logical reason why I do it
Okanaganer
Just curious. Why pick a harder word on a Monday? Null vs. NONE I play the odds and usually I am right. ( not always of course).
Burtonkd
While Yoko ONO’s music is a required taste, over the decades there are people who developed a liking for her avant-garde music, which was connected to her avant-garde art, which I find more interesting. I like neither her music nor rap but but that doesn’t mean she and rap people are not musical artists
It is also clear that she got a highly sexist reaction from the news media and the rest of the Beatles. John met her because of his interest in her art and music.
Anonymous 8:11 AM
To each their own opinion. Big country. Peeps are candy to me. Anyway as someone said, neither the clue nor the answer has the word candy in it. They are all sweet. Not weird at all
Dr. Random
I see you point ( and Rex’) but this is a puzzle, not a dictionary so close enough for crosswords is fine in both cases.
Happy I wasn’t the only one to defend ONO (Les S. More the other. Thanks for supplying the name of the art movement.)
Liked the puzzle like most.
Yesterday, too late to comment, but wow, the hatred against certain normal-to-me answers
AMBIT. & IN A TRICE A mini rant
Ambit common word appearing in publications and on line all the time ( Baltimore Sun is a recent cite) And also in formal conversations. Not in the least obscure. If you don’t know it, that happens.But don’t dump on it till you look it.up Some people got very nasty.about both
In a trice may be a generational thing. But it is a gimme for many so by definition not obscure. Again look before you trash the answer.
@dgd... not sure why, but for a 4 letter N--- "Zero", NULL or NADA always pop into my head when I'm doing the crossword, but rarely NONE. Maybe it's just more zippy!
Didn’t have time to comment today but I agree with take on “Star” rating, for what that’s worth.
Late in day, and maybe you know this, but yellow jackets are WASPS. And YES the sting is painful from ALL wasps. But…to give Les credit…paper wasps are pretty laid back…compared to their wasps. Yikes!
I agree on your bee take. Well. I doubt honeybees take kindly to hive invasion, AND I may have stepped on one or two barefoot as a kid in clover…but I’ve never had a bumblebee incident. Wasps…another thing (except paper wasps).
Absolutely delightful, every bit of this, I didn't want it stop! What a clever idea and so very well executed.
I had a silly mishap at the 60A themer - I had already sussed out the theme and I miscounted the number of names in the clue and then rushed to put in SIX at the end (??!!) Only lasted a hot minute as the obvious ELVIS at 50D gave away the equally obvious V in FIVE and then the train was quickly back on the tracks. This was a ton of fun!
I often finish a theme and wonder to myself how I would ever be able to clearly and concisely articulate what the theme was doing to others the way @Rex consistently does. I realize that I NEVER would be able to do it! I could pick up the puzzle and say "look, see what they did here?" But it would be real tough for me to put into words, let alone write it all out. So much appreciation for @Rex for doing that every day, day in and day out, seven days each week.
And thank you Rena for one of my most enjoyable Mondays ever!
It's "For suresies," a cutesy way of saying "For sure." And, yes, the answer is a cutesy way of saying "Definitely."
@Beezer, yes they are both wasps. When my younger relatives see one and freak out, I have to calmly tell them: that is a Paper Wasp (flies slow and zigzags; legs hang down), let it be. That other homicidal asshole with wings is a yellowjacket.
One of the best Mondays in a very long time! Nothing difficult, but a fresh take on the “familiar tropes” theme. Well done Rena Cohen!
This is my favorite of Rena's puzzles so far. I'm pulling for her more than any other constructor- her grandparents were very instrumental in my upbringing- and the conceit of this one is particularly delightful. Really fun cluing, and not just with the themers.
Love the stars.
Gently bumping my request from yesterday to add an actual numeral next to the stars. I keep my phone on grayscale mode (supposedly helps it be a little less addictive), and all five stars look the same.
Si quieres que sea honesta.
This was a perfect Monday puzzle. Just a delight. My favorite theme entry was DOUBLE O SEVEN.
I'm guessing 🦖 and his star system will find most puzzles in the 1-2-3 range and be as generally {un} helpful as his Easy-Medium-Challenging system. I'm rooting for ya big guy.
{Maybe just talk about them and stop all ratings?}
Let me just say that without Peeps we would be stuck with making fun of candy corn and those orange Circus Peanuts things.
The minute I wrote in IFEVER I knew @egs was pitched slow and down the center.
Pretty sure pyramids and spheres can be hollow otherwise Vegas is a lie.
❤️ For suresies.
😩 OKING.
People: 6
Places: 4
Products: 9
Partials: 2
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 22 of 78 (28%)
Funny Factor: 4 🙂
Tee-Hee: NUDE STRIP. BLUNT.
Uniclues:
1 Where glitter stinks.
2 A stinky old dude shopping for Craftsman tools.
3 Illness leading to a streak.
4 Old rock star with the proper insurance.
5 Recommendation from the salesman.
6 When magazine models roll balls.
7 Results of cleaning out a drunken old uncle's apartment after his unsurprising death.
8 Statement from a transforming yellow Camaro.
9 The King of Japan.
10 Adds a crimson E.
1 ACRID STRIP BAR (~)
2 GORY SEARS PEST
3 "NUDE I" FEVER
4 SAFER AGED IDOL
5 I MUST SAY BUY
6 ELLE SKEE-BALL
7 INHERITS VINO
8 VOILA, BUMBLEBEE
9 EAST ASIA ELVIS
10 REDS NETS REEDS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Dirty fingers. INKWELL BODY LANGUAGE.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I solve the Monday NYT & LAT xwords in a spiral - outside in, of course!
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