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Relative difficulty: Easy to Easy-Medium
Theme answers:
First ugh was at LAOTZU, both because he's the crosswordesiest philosopher who ever lived and because it's impossible to know which spelling of his name the puzzle is going to want: I went with LAO-TSE (last two letters, wrong). Wikipedia has it as LAOZI, and you'd think the crossword would've jumped all over that spelling, but ...
- TONE DOWN (17A: Soften, as a message)
- TOP DOLLAR (26A: A very high price, so to speak)
- TOOTH DOCTOR (35A: Dentist, colloquially)
- TOKYO DOME (47A: Japanese stadium that has hosted M.L.B. and N.F.L. games)
Cash on delivery (COD), sometimes called payment on delivery, cash on demand, payment on demand or collect on delivery is the sale of goods by mail order where payment is made on delivery rather than in advance. If the goods are not paid for, they are returned to the retailer. Originally, the term applied only to payment by cash but as other forms of payment have become more common, the word "cash" has sometimes been replaced with the word "collect" to include transactions by checks, money orders, credit cards or debit cards. // Advantages of COD for online or mail order retailers:
- The customer does not need to own a credit card to purchase.
- Impulse purchases may increase as payment is not due at the time of ordering.
- The credibility of retailers may be increased because the consumer only has to pay when the item is delivered.
Disadvantages of COD for online or mail order retailers:
- Orders might be returned as buyers are less committed to the purchase than if they had paid in advance (which led to the eventual elimination of C.O.D. with many TV offers in the United States and Canada by the early 1980s).
- Logistics partners charge additional fees for COD orders. (wikipedia)
• • •
 |
| [xwordinfo] |
As for the theme, it's fine, adequate. In no way exciting, but it does what it does. It's got a bit of wordplay going in the revealer, which is nice. I can't believe TO-DO LIST hasn't been done before. Oh, look, it has. In 2016. Identical theme. This bugs me. It's true, it's been nine years, no one (except the first puzzle's constructors) is going to remember one puzzle from 2016, but the bare minimum you can do as a constructor making a puzzle is search your theme answers in the databases to see if someone's done it before. The audience won't remember, but conscientious constructors (I guarantee you) will be like "come on ... I try and try and try to get a puzzle accepted and this one gets through by just replicating a theme that's already been used?!" This puzzle only has one theme answer in common with the 2016 puzzle, but the revealer's the same, the concept is the same. Same same.
I'm begging constructors to a. clean your wordlists of painfully overused gunk, and b. just do a bare minimum of research before you go forward with a theme (It's really the editor's fault—the duplication of the theme is surely a coincidence, not theft. People conceive of similar themes independently of one another all the time).
 |
| [TOOTH DOCTOR?] |
This one was very easy to solve. Didn't even think about the theme and just kind of followed my answers termite-like until very quickly I found that I had traversed the grid—diagonally, from NW to SE. This means I got the revealer before I got 75% of the themers, which made getting those themers extra easy:
[please enjoy this amazing last-minute goal that put IRELAND over Hungary in a World Cup qualifier over the weekend]
Bullets:
- 4A: Rebound, as a pool shot (BANK) — a normal word, but of course I wanted CAROM, a crossword word. Stupid fifth letter, not fitting in the spaces allotted ...
- 8A: Requirement for domestic air travel starting in 2025 (REAL ID) — I thought your passport worked as well. Yep. "If you already have a valid passport, you don't need a REAL ID for domestic flights."
- 1D: Material that's been deliberately thrown overboard (JETSAM) — this distinguishes it from FLOTSAM, which ... is just material that's already floating in the sea? Wreckage? What is FLOTSAM? Wait, FLOTSAM can also be material deliberately thrown overboard? That's confusing. "Flotsam /ˈflɒtsəm/ (also known as "flotsan") refers to goods from a sunken vessel that have floated to the surface of the sea, or any floating cargo that is cast overboard." "Jetsam /ˈdʒɛtsəm/ designates any cargo that is intentionally discarded from a ship or wreckage." (my emph.). Those meanings would appear to overlap. FLOTSAM and JETSAM are also, of course, the EELS (!) from The Little Mermaid.
That's all. See you next time.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
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I am usually one not to crow, but I’m bursting with joy and I can’t hold it in.
ReplyDeleteSome of you know that I like to leave the revealer blank, fill in the theme answers, and, without reading the revealer’s clue, try to guess it – a skill I’m weak at. Occasionally I report coming close, maybe figuring out the reveal after finally reading its clue, or after having filled in a few letters.
But today, after filling in three of the four theme answers my brain saw it and shouted “TO DO LIST!” I plugged it in, and it worked! It worked!
Now maybe this was an easy revealer to thusly crack, but I do not care. As I sublimely float, thinking that maybe, just maybe, I’m getting better at this, I will not accept any naysaying. La la la la la la la. And woo-hoo!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Hahaha congratulations Lewis!
DeleteVery easy, provided only that one can spell MUESLI and distinguish between LAOTZU and Laotse among Chinese philosophers. Didn't consider the theme until reading Rex' column.
ReplyDeleteRex needs to create a term for words with alternative spellings. Laotze, Laotse, Laotzu; newb, noob; ahh, aah; .... And constructors shall be limited to 1, one, I, per puzzle.
DeleteApart from a couple of obstacles that Rex mentions—LAO Tse and NEW to—this was a particularly easy downs-only solve, just over half my usual Tuesday time. The longer downs dropped right in, and I AVOIDed most of the staler fill, which seems to be in the across answers. Not bad, but over too soon.
ReplyDeleteI believe JETsam is stuff that was JETtisoned on purpose while flotsam is unintentional. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/flotsam-jetsam.html
ReplyDeleteA sailor I once knew said that jetsam is something you throw into the water, and flotsam is something that you find floating in the water.
DeleteAs an expert on maritime law (I have read all the Aubrey/Maturing & Hornblower novels) flotsam belongs to the ship owner while jetsam belongs to the finder (since they intentionally discarded it)
DeleteYour passport works because it is a real ID..
ReplyDeleteSo is an ordinary driver's license, if we're being honest. The exact same documents needed to get a REAL ID are those you would use to get an ordinary "non-real" driver's license. It's completely ridiculous.
DeleteNot to disagree with your larger point about the silliness of the whole thing, but at least here in California the REAL ID seems to require slightly additional documentation (though how that additional documentation makes much difference is beyond me).
DeleteMy understanding is that a REAL ID is mostly for those people who do not drive and do not have a passport, yet want to fly domestically. Apparently they exist ;-)
DeleteDMV
DeleteI get your initials.
But the Feds a few years ago required all states to issue REAL IDs including drivers licenses, that require more paperwork ( as tht said) to get like a copy of a bill mailed to your address. So real ids includes licenses as well as passports etc I have a real id license.
@Anon 5:47pm - I was referring to THT's comment that applying for a REAL ID is ridiculous or redundant, but it isn't for people without a "real" license or passport.
DeleteManaged to make time for the puzzle before running out the door for my 8am class, and delighted that I could squeeze the blog in as well for the clip about the Irish victory over Hungary. Any reason the Irish have to celebrate warms my heart, and they celebrate so beautifully. So now making time for a blah puzzle has me walking out the door with a smile on my face!
ReplyDeleteTwo stars is about right... how about "LAO SUE" next time (Susan from Laos)
ReplyDeleteCrossing Lau Txx with MUESLI was uncalled for on a Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteI believe the correct spelling is “Tzuesday”
DeleteYep, agree on the two stars. And had the exact same problem as @Bob Mills, despite MUESLI having just appeared recently (when I spelt it correctly).
ReplyDeleteWhat is the statute of limitations on repeating a theme? At least three years, for sure. Maybe six or seven? Ten years definitely seems OK.
This grid has 70 words, more typical of a Friday puzzle, and yet it solves like a Tuesday, which goes to show how important the cluing is to a puzzle’s difficulty. I believe Joe nailed the cluing – keeping it Tuesday-easy yet not embarrassingly easy.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, [Fancy] for DESIRE, where I wasn’t sure of the answer from the clue, but with a couple of crosses, it was obvious.
Enhancing my solve were a passel of words I like, old friends that I don’t run into that often: SIEVES, MUESLI, SUTURE, JETSAM, STOKES, TINKERER, LOBO.
It’s a tight theme, though there are a few other possibilities, like TOUCH DOWN, TOY DOG, and TOFU DOG. So, credit to Joe for coming up with an answer set that met the requirements of symmetry.
The image that the dook of SENT COD elicited, brought an inner laugh. And I liked EDDA crossing EDDY.
Much, therefore, to like and admire in the grid for me today. My day is much better for having done your puzzle, Joe – thank you!
I thought Rex was a little tough on the theme. I’m comfortable with a decent theme (that apparently has only been done once before) reappearing after nine or ten years. In this instance I would favor quality over originality.
ReplyDeleteThe fill on the other hand, definitely dragged this one down a notch. Rex jumped all over REUNES and ETERNE (appropriately so). Apparently REUNE is in fact a real word - which is unfortunate, because it shouldn’t be. I’ll apologize on behalf of the NYT to the lovely Ms. EPHRON for having to be associated with that debacle via the crossing “N”. She was much too talented, witty and articulate to have ever have stooped to uttering such nonsense, and she deserves to be treated more respectfully than that.
The fill dragged it down farther for me. I had reunes and could not believe that was right but could not find an error in the crosses. Tooth Doctor is not a thing, nicknames generally should not be longer than the formal name nor have more syllables. Rover as martian explorer, I guess but most rovers are not Mars related. Then the top middle of newat, asof, & isee is bad but I did like kendo.
DeleteChrisS
DeleteWhen you said there are rovers on Mars but most rovers are elsewhere You showed the answer is fine for a crossword PUZZLE but maybe not a dictionary Crosswords routinely have answers like this.
Tooth doctor is a jokey way of referring to a dentist It is a thing I have heard before and it appears online.
The spelling problem surrounding Lao Tzu may be more widespread than originally feared. Here is a recently discovered restaurant review by the great philosopher:
ReplyDeleteFor tzupper, Lao Tzu had the tzoup. Tzadly, he tzaid it tasted like tzoap.
@Liveprof, that's so tzilly.
DeleteI’m driving myself crazy over 9D. Is this answer correct? G Major has one sharp. Doesn’t a Minor scale have a flatted third?
ReplyDeleteYou are correct about G Major. To get from a major scale to its parallel minor (having the same number of sharps), drop down by a minor third, so here you drop from G to E to get E MINOR as parallel to G Major. Anyway, the answer given is the correct one.
Deletee minor is the relative minor scale to G major -- They have the same key signature, one sharp.
DeleteI thought the same thing...one sharp (F-Sharp) means the key is G-Major!
DeleteIn the E minor scale the "flatted" third is G natural. E major is E, F#, G#, A, etc. (4 sharps). The E natural minor scale only has one sharp, and G major is its "relative major".
DeleteIt follows from my previous comment that G is a flatted third in the E MINOR scale, if that's of any help.
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteYes! To Rex's "I try and try" sentence. Tis true here.
Nice puz. Like Rex said, don't remember that other puz, unsure if I was doing daily puzs in 2016 (I think I was?)(What a rotten memory I have, plus time goes bad so freakin' fast, it seems like something you just started is already 10 years old...).
Had JETSoM and LAOTse, which got me osTE_ for the AZTEC clue, and some head scratching ensued. Thankfully, Montezuma was easily gettable, so fixed those errors. Got NEWto first, but then got AS OF, and that FT start was saying, "Well, something's not right". Changed to NEWAT.
Nice TuesPuz. Good for a rainy day here. Yes, it rains occasionally in the desert. We had rain Sunday (all day!) and today. Gotta try to get some kind of water into Lake Mead...
Have a great Tuesday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Not a fan of this one, and I winced at the use of “native” in “Native led by Montezuma.” At least say “native person,” instead of using it as a noun in this gross “the natives are restless” way.
ReplyDeleteWe make fun of the puzzle - rightfully so - but it's on the Times for accepting and running reused (not reunes) junk like this.
ReplyDeleteThe fastest Tuesday in quite some time. Unlike Lewis, I thought the easiness verged on the embarrassing. I rate it Very Easy.
ReplyDeleteREUNES is worse than ETERNE in my book. On the other hand, I love JETSAM and its partner in crime Flotsam.Never knew the distinction between the two until today (thanks, Rex!).
I've bought stuff COD before. I like that system; works for me.
I'm not NEW AT crossword-solving (originally I had NEW to), so I knew to wait, before filling in the last two letters of LAO TZU.
REAL musicians know their major and MINOR scales like the backs of their hands, as in knowing by heart which notes have sharps if you're in a scale on the sharp side of the circle of fifths. But you can figure out E MINOR from scratch even if not. Starting at C Major (with no sharps or flats), go up a fifth, i.e., seven semiTONEs, to get to the major scale with one sharp; that would be G Major. (Go up another seven to get to the major scale with two sharps, and so on; I'll leave that as an exercise.) Once you're there, drop down three semitones (a minor third) to get to the minor scale that is parallel to the major scale, so from G drop down to E, so the answer is E MINOR. I hope that explanation was not too ORNATE.
Hey Nineteen, that's 'RETHA Franklin.
I appreciate the attempted explanation. Alas, literally the only part of that I understand is "Starting at C Major (with no sharps or flats)". I think I am doomed to filling in _M__OR and waiting on crosses for that type of clue forever.
Deletetht
DeleteI agree
I don’t like retune and think eterne is tolerable.
It is classic JUNK crosswordese. but suppose it’s use is inevitable!
The clue for 8A is fine. Requirements can (and often do) comprise alternatives or have acceptable substitutes, eg, in job applications: high school diploma or GRE certificate; for proof of income/expense on tax returns: bank records, receipts, cancelled checks, etc; for residency requirements: lease agreements, utility bills or school/medical records, etc.
ReplyDeleteI certainly liked this one more than OFL, not unusual. After a couple of themers I saw the T/D connection but neglected to dig further and get the TODO so that was a nice surprise.
ReplyDeleteThis one made me happy right away with JETSAM as it made me think of Ogden Nash--
Want some flotsam?
I got some.
Want some JETSAM?
I'll get some.
Hadn't thought of that in a while. Also haven't seen EDDA in a while. Hello old friend.
I liked your Tuesday just fine, JD. Just Dandy. Thanks for the dearth of proper names and for a fun time.
The Ogden Nash quote makes me sad that there’s no LIKE button for these comments.
DeleteIt seems that Ireland has an outside chance of getting into the final 48 teams in the 2026 World Cup. Six games will be played here in the Bay Area at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, where the Forty Niners play. The US is in it.
ReplyDeleteThe draw to determine Ireland's "path" at the March 2026 UEFA WC playoffs will be held this Thursday, November 20. That will give a slightly better idea of how "outside" Ireland's chances might be.
DeleteI understand all of Rex's points but I liked this puzzle more than he did. I liked it right off the bat, in fact, because the NW had such good words, with JESAM, AZTEC, MUESLI ... and then I didn't mind at all seeing IRELAND, the EMPIRE state, and wonderul NORA EPHRON. Wish Rex had had something to say about her books, movies, and love of life, because I'll love her for an ETERNE. To have her and ARETHA in the same puzzle is grand! Thanks for a great Tuesday, Joe.
ReplyDeleteFilm/Literature/Art/Television/Crossword Criticism is a whole different thing than "Rating" or "Ranking." Sadly, though, they have become more and more conflated and muddled. My own preference is to keep them separate. I like that Rex has engaged over the years in his own brand of astute and often passionate crossword criticism. But I am a bit disappointed that he has decided to muddy this up (a least for me) by now engaging in deliberate "rating."
ReplyDeleteIf he is going to do this, though, why not make it very special and have the stars go to six - right across the board? Six is one better, isn't it? It's not five. You see most blokes rate up to five, all the way up, but where can you go from there? Where? No where? But if Michael needs that extra push over the cliff, why he can put it up to six.
But it is his blog to do with what he wishes - as he does each day with such vigor!
I'm not a fan of rating by stars. I am a fan of "astute and often passionate crossword criticism".
DeleteSure, why not 6? Or why not go to eleven?
I don't care at all that the theme was done 9 years ago, I mean, why is that a problem? It's startting to feel like Rex is so skilled, and so experienced, that all he notices are the shortcomings, and he overlooks the things done well. I didn't think this puzzle had much dumb stuff in it at all, and the cluing was quite good. Nice job, Mr. Deeney.
ReplyDeleteJ-LO, ARETHA, [Nora] EPHRON, NIA, [Olive] OYL! All worthy HEROINEs that make the puzzle LIVELIER and a lot of fun. Didn't you even notice, Rex???
ReplyDeleteSlid down the puzzle easily from the top to the SE, but got hung up in the SW with the crossing of NEONATE and KARMIC, where I got totally distracted by wallowing in nostalgia over memories of Johnny Carson’s Carnac the Magnificent. In terms of popular anglicization, the spellings “Lao Tse” or Lao Tsu” are close to the real pronunciation, but for some reason the current scholarly written preference is Laozi…You really need to be a deep philosopher to figure that one out. On the other hand, the new system, called Pinyin, was developed by a Chinese scholar to help his country, so who are we to complain.
ReplyDeleteI put TOxic DOnald on my TODOLIST because he's a TOtal DOuche. He's so awful that he should hang down his head like TOm DOoley.
ReplyDeleteIsn't there a chain of discount Urgent Cares called SUTURE SELF? If not, there should be.
When I owned an on-line fish mongery, I always shipped salmon pre-paid but SENTCOD I SENT it COD.
This puzzle brought back to me Keat's paean to a timeless summer temp: ETERNE INTERN.
When a baby is a few months old, do you say NEONATE ORNATE? Of course when that baby was refusing to be born, it was on the hospital's TOoDueLIST.
I'm not sure why using absolutely legitimate words like ETERNE and REUNES draws such scorn. I guess the message is to stick to the same words that constantly appear in crosswords so that we can disparage you for doing that. Anyway, I enjoyed this and would give it three stars. Thanks, Joe Deeney.
SUTURE SELF, hilarious! But possibly coming to a clinic near everyone, due to rising insurance costs. Maybe it will come with an AI guide on how to sew oneself up.
DeleteLoved SUTURE self, and your final comment also got a laugh out of me.
DeleteSeveral times recently I’ve finished a puzzle with some delightful words in it - we saw TINKERER recently, and JETSAM and TOP DOLLAR were nice too - anyway, I’m done with a puzzle and think, “ Well, this was nice, and nearly gunk-free. Rex won't have much to object to here.” And then his list of gunk runs two or three or four lines! Oh, oh my, yep, ugh, that's a mess. How did I miss all that? I guess it wasn't such a great puzzle after all. Fortunately humorous comments like yours are a restorative. Thanks!
PS Rex - thanks for the Irish goal clip! I wish I'd seen that game!
@Egs I LOVED your entire message, especially the first entry and your comment at the message's end.
Delete@egs, 😂 SUTURE SELF Urgent Care. It even has a drive through where they scan your credit card and toss a first aid kit to you.
DeleteThe clue for 40 across is “Sent without prepaid postage.” Wrong. It means the product being delivered has not been paid for. If you order a $100 gizmo C.O.D., you pay $100 when it arrives. Plus postage, probably.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily. In the U.S. at least, the shipper has an option to choose to add the shipping charges to the amount collected at delivery from the recipient.
DeleteI was going to make the same comment.
DeleteAnd as a followup to Anonymous:
The shipping charges can be added to the COD amount, but would be forwarded to the shipper - who already paid those fees to the PO. From their COD FAQs:
- Sender pays postage plus fees at time of mailing.
- The mailer guarantees to pay any return postage
In other words, the postage IS prepaid - ergo, the clue is wrong.
Glad to see your comment, I was going to make the same point. And as a follow-up to Anonymous:
DeleteThe following is from a list of COD requirements (from the USPO COD FAQs page),
- Sender pays postage plus fees at time of mailing.
The sender can include postage and fees in the COD amount - in which case, the reimbursement is forwarded to the shipper - but the postage IS prepaid.
The clue is wrong.
The USPS is not the only entity that ships C.O.D. UPS does as well, and they do not require prepayment. The clue is fine.
DeleteTo Anonymous: UPS requires you to have an account with UPSCapital in order to ship COD - you can't just walk into a UPS Store. Shipping charges ARE prepaid, they are added to your account.
DeleteWhile solving, I noticed a lot of answers starting with TO but didn't see the DOs. As a recent retiree (since April), most of my TO-DO LISTs are more "if I want to do" lists, which is nice.
ReplyDeleteRex's REAL ID comment about the passport being an acceptable substitute reminds me that I need to renew my passport. Thanks, Rex.
In puzzles at least, the difference in the number of letters in the words is enough to prevent flotsam and JETSAM from becoming kealoas. That's what I relied on today, not the precise definition of the two.
Thanks, Joe Deeney, for a very easy Tuesday.
Ancient LAOTZU rule: "When in doubt, end it with a U".
ReplyDeleteI reckon 2 Betelgeuses is juicy enough a ratin, for a puztheme rerun. But this rodeo does have a few nice highlights:
* The Fanged Jaws of Tuesdayness black-square blobs.
* Only a 70-worder. Lotsa longballs ensue. some faves: TINKERER. SUTURE. HEROINE. LIVELIER in BED. SAHARA.
* EYES & EAR.
* TOOTHDOCTOR's debut. Not to hard to nail, since the puztheme mcguffin was already detected by then, at our house.
* JLO opener & ARETHA closer.
staff weeject pick: DUH. Reflects many of the friendly, moo-cow eazy-E Tuespuz clues. EMPIRE clue was a glowin example.
Thanx for the cool TO-DO-Again solvequest, Mr. Deeney. M&A wasn't real bothered by a good 9-year puztheme sequel, btw.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
... and now, an AZ-TEChy inspired dessert xword ...
"The Whole Enchilada" - 7x7 themed runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
I solved without even realizing there was a theme. Pretty easy. CLIO was a gimme since I worked at Advertising Agencies. Thank you, Joe :)
ReplyDeleteI guess BMO Bank went under and was bought out by JLO BANK, a much more reputable institution.
ReplyDelete@Charlie S, another Canadian bank that goes by its initials (probably so Americans won't know it's Canadian) is, aptly for today's theme, TD Bank! Sponsor of many sports venues.
DeletePS: BMO = Bank of Montreal, TD = Toronto Dominion.
A pleasant enough downs-only Tuesday. Biggest hang-up was probably at 2D LAO TZU which I had as LAO TsU because my copy of the Tao sits about 4 feet away from me on my studio bookshelf and even I, with my crappy eyesight can see from here that it says Tsu and, well … transliteration and all that and it is an early 70s edition … Okay I’m not that upset.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it’s the shorter stuff that can really do you in. Could not for the longest time see 5D AS OF or 6D NEW AT. Thought I was going nuts. (Not implausible.)
Really liked 11D LIVELIER and 13D DESIRE as clued. Wanted 35D to be luthier or some related term (or do luthiers focus on guitars and not fiddles?). REUNES at 39A is an ugly word. It’s probably fairly obvious from many of my previous comments that I am not good at math, yet I dropped COSINE right in at 41D. Could it be that crosswords are curing me of my anumeracy?
At first I thought it was simply a TD theme. Glad to see it was actually the much deeper and infinitely more complex TO DO LIST.
I was *so* sure that the ToDo list gimmick had been done just the other day. Turns out I'd just been working on it in an old book of nyt puzzles.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteEasy. No WOEs.
Overwrites:
My 2D philosopher was spelled LAO TSe before LAO TSU
At 13D, I took "Fancy" as an adjective and had DEluxe before the verb DESIRE
I had 28A misspelled as MeuSLI instead of MUESLI, due to the E in 2D
tht@7:45 AM Not so at least in NY state, RealID requires, among other things, exact name agreement between birth certificate and social security number. When I got a SSN- many years ago - I used my common name (derived from but not equivalent to BC name)and cannot get a RealID driver's license without a formal SSN name change. When I got a passport only BC was needed (don't know if that's still true for initial passport but just renewed mine).
ReplyDeleteLike @pabloinnh, I only noticed the TDs and thought we were in football territory - only the reveal opened my eyes to the Os. Besides my favorite theme answer, TOOTH DOCTOR (nicely crossing TINKERER), I thought there was a lot more to like, from JETSAM and LAOTZU to LIVELIER IRELAND and those two impressive very long Downs.
ReplyDeleteBertolt Brecht wrote a poem about LAO TZU - Legend of the origin of the book Tao Te Ching on Lao-Tzu's road into exile. I hope you'll take a minute to read it.
Most folks on a domestic flight are not going to use their passport. So easiiy lost or stolen. Theyll go to the trouble of getting a Real ID. Which is for most also a drivers license
ReplyDeleteEasy. No real problems with this one - No costly erasures and nonWOEs.
ReplyDeleteMostly solid (REUNES was cringy @Rex) but a tad bland, didn’t hate it… 2 stars seems right.
A bit of a slow start, with LAO TSE causing me to spell the Swiss cereal MEUSLI. Then shortly later, for the "key" at 9 down I just put -M--JOR as is my custom, thinking: I'll be back. Pretty quick after that, though.
ReplyDeleteBut I somehow completely missed the theme! Did it last night, and I have no memory of reading the clue for 57 across. Weird.
Sorry... me again! I just now got the pangram in Spelling Bee, and it's a word I don't think I've ever seen before.
ReplyDeleteAny time I come across the words flotsam or JETSAM, my brain goes to the evil lair of eels in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” It was our daughter’s obsession for over a year. I honestly think I could still remember every line and I know I can still sing all the songs; every so often one will become the ear-worm of the day. But kids’ obsessions are things that frustrate the life out if you at the time and are adorable memories 30-some (Yikes!! Almost 40) years later.
ReplyDeleteThe Joe Deeney byline is well known to me, but this wasn’t his best. In fact it felt almost as if he phoned it in. Maybe the editors really needed an easy one and called in a favor? Anyway, at the second theme answer, my brain said, “Oh, the TO DO LIST again,” so sometimes solvers do remember. Thanks though, @Rex for looking it up for me. I was surprised it was that long ago, but pretty impressed that I remembered. I solve at least 6 different puzzles a day now that I have the time, so wasn’t 100% certain the previous one came from the NYT. I’m also pretty sure I’ve seen Mr. Deeney’s byline here for about 10 years.
Editors (again, yes, I’m a bit unhappy with y’all) surely enough folks are submitting - especially easier more formulaic early week - puzzles that something other than a repeat would have passed muster with some expert help from you???
I did not dislike this; it played easy, obvious theme and no really exciting fill, but it is a Tuesday type puzzle. Every answer was just so obvious. But then our constructor, is very well acquainted with you. Could this be the editors seeing a familiar byline and glossing over the “issues?”
I too liked it more than Rex did - easy and whooshy Tuesday. REUNES is weird, but ETERNE is fine. Rex convinced me that a theme should probably not be duplicated unless it is done quite differently. Apparently that is easy for a constructor or editor to check. This theme was new to me and to many solvers I’m sure, and there were many good answers and very few sports and film references! So three stars! Thank you Joe Deeney.
ReplyDeletePabloinnh reaction was similar to mine.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle didn’t have names people were complaining about so that was a plus. I say a half a star more
Gracias, Capitán Obvio.
ReplyDeleteLook at 🦖 pulling out The Little Mermaid trivia. Sometimes I think he knows more Disney than he'd like to admit. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I can't wait.
SENT COD ... cue @egsforbreakfast.
THE DOT is probably the funniest worst answer I've seen in a while. Love it for all the wrong reasons.
I've got LOBOS and coyotes living in my neighborhood so I carry pepper spray when we walk our old cattle dog. Dog v. dog v. dog. We also have bears and mountain lions so sooner or later I will be food.
They probably know this, but Limerick is in eight places in America and one in Canada and also every country if you count the poems, and probably a few collections floating around on boats, so Limerick's locale is most correctly EARTH.
❤️ Thanks Captain Obvious. TINKERER.
😩 REUNES. But honestly, it's not as devastating as 🦖 makes it sound. Unfortunate, for sure, and I kinda like ETERNE. I actually hated NEONATE (NEON ATE) and KARMIC, but I don't know why. Such are the whims of the alphadopplers.
People: 9
Places: 5
Products: 4
Partials: 4
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 23 of 70 (33%)
Funny Factor: 2 😕
Uniclues:
1 Clog.
2 Cacao seed (truly).
3 Great granola gal.
4 Where we used to look for our elected representative before we learned they're at Epstein's.
5 Delivered dead fish to the desert.
6 First, do good. Then, do bad. Finally, wait and see what happens.
7 Philosopher swallowed the rainbow.
8 Drag queen fixing a clock.
9 Early experiment with ending run-on sentences.
10 What happens when you call them Brits.
1 TONE DOWN SIEVES
2 AZTEC TOP DOLLAR
3 MUESLI HEROINE
4 INTERN BED
5 SENT SAHARA COD (~)
6 KARMIC TO DO LIST
7 LAO-TZU ATE NEON (~)
8 ORNATE TINKERER
9 NEW AT THE DOT
10 IRELAND REVS UP
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Murderous ogres ollie pack. ORC SKATER'S KIT.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Flotsam and Jetsam - the band that brought us eventual Metallica bassist Jason Newsted
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