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Relative difficulty: Medium (solved Downs-only)
Theme answers:
- "TINY DANCER" (17A: 1972 song by Elton John)
- "SMALL TOWN" (29A: 1985 song by John Cougar Mellencamp)
- "BABY GRAND" (50A: 1987 song by Billy Joel and Ray Charles)
Peter Hans Docter (born October 9, 1968) is an American filmmaker, director and animator, who has served as chief creative officer (CCO) of Pixar since 2018.[2][3] He has directed the company's animated films Monsters, Inc. (2001), Up (2009), Inside Out (2015), and Soul (2020). From his nine Academy Award nominations, he is a record three-time recipient of Best Animated Feature for Up, Inside Out and Soul. Docter has also won six Annie Awards from nine nominations, a BAFTA Children's Film Award and a Hochi Film Award. He describes himself as a "geeky kid from Minnesota who likes to draw cartoons". (wikipedia)
• • •
The Scrabble-f***ing here is pretty obvious—high-value Scrabble tiles crammed into various remote crannies of the grid. You know the fill is not going to be optimal when you've got a pangram on your hands. When you strive for a pangram, getting every letter of the alphabet into the grid ends up taking precedence over making the grid as lively and clean as possible. No one cares about pangrams, everyone cares about good fill. The pangram is a stunt that I thought had passed out of favor forever, but apparently not. Anyway, this grid has at least one of every letter of the alphabet. Whoopee. It also has AIS. I'd've done anything I could to get the execrable plural AIS out of my grid, even (especially!) if it involved wrecking the pangram. That said, there's nothing particularly horrible about the fill today, and the long (7+) Downs do have a certain spark. A SPARK PLUG, even. The biggest "huh?" moment of the solve, for me, was DOCTER, a name I have somehow never seen or heard of despite the fact that I know all the movies mentioned in the clue (Up, Inside Out, Soul). Weird that directors of animated films don't tend to have the same name recognition as live-action directors. Aside from Miyazaki, I think Brad Bird (Ratatouille, The Incredibles) is the only animated film director I can name off the top of my head. Anyway, Pete DOCTER is obviously extremely successful, but wow I did not know his name, which meant that I had to infer every single letter from the crosses. Thankfully, in the end, there was no real ambiguity, but UNSEE definitely took a while to come together. I really wanted that to be ENSUE.
There were other tricky parts of the Downs-only solve. I had B-SIDE instead of SIDE B for 28D: Lesser-played part of a 45. Super-annoying that either one is technically "correct." You'd think we'd have settled on one or the other by now, but no. In NYTXW history, there have been 32 BSIDEs, 30 SIDEBs. Bizarrely, neither one ever appeared in the puzzle before the Shortz Era, despite the fact that the term "B-SIDE" dates back to the '40s. I assume SIDE B goes at least as far back. I tried to look up "SIDE B" just now, to figure out its origins, but all that came up was a kind of Christianity I have *never* heard of:
Side B Christians are Christians who identify as LGBT or have LGBTQ+ experiences, but take a traditional view of human sexuality and thus commit to celibacy or a mixed-orientation marriage. The term Side B derives from an Internet forum where Side A Christians, with an affirming view of LGBT sexuality, were contrasted with Side B Christians. Prominent Side B Christians include Eve Tushnet, a lesbian Catholic based in Washington, DC, and Bekah Mason, executive director of Revoice. In particular, Side B Christians reject conversion therapy. Side B is also distinct from Side Y, which does not affirm LGBT identification. (wikipedia)
What a weird thing to learn, and what a weird way to learn it. Anyway, that SIDEB section also had AREPA (27D: South American flatbread) and CALEB, both of which I got, but CALEB (26D: Biblical spy for Moses) ... I don't know how I knew CALEB. It's not like I know Exodus all that well [apparently CALEB appears in Numbers, not Exodus; my bad!] . It's an answer that just came to me. I was not at all sure of it, but it *felt* right. So I got lucky there. Other Down answers that gave me issues included a bunch of stuff in the SE: DAZZLES before DISARMS (49D: Wins over with charm), COLD before COOL (62D: Chilly), AREA before ACRE (63D: Surveyor's measure).
Bullets:
- 53A: Midsection measurement (GIRTH) — this is true enough, but why does GIRTH signify heftiness to me? Like, the word seems to have the idea of largeness built in, even though it's just "a measure around a body" (2a, merriam-webster dot com). Would you ever talk about a skinny person's GIRTH? Aw man, I just looked up [skinny person's girth] and all I got was page after page of penis info. I really gotta stop looking things up. It's not going well for me today.
- 61A: Caribbean island with a liqueur named for it (CURAÇAO) — I (now, as of 2026) keep a running list of the cocktail-related clues and answers. I expect I'll be seeing a lot of GIN and RYE, maybe some AGAVE spirits. But CURAÇAO—that's more unusual. A nice surprise. CURAÇAO is probably most famous in its blue form—I think of it as very tiki bar-oriented. The Blue Hawaii—that's got blue CURAÇAO in it. If you want your drink to be blue, blue CURAÇAO is the liqueur you GO TO. In this house, however, we drink Pierre-Ferrand Dry CURAÇAO. It is orange. Because it's an orange liqueur. Makes sense!
[Bing sang it (in Waikiki Wedding (1937)) twenty-four years before Elvis]
- 35D: Device for starting an engine (SPARK PLUG) — tough for me. I wanted something like a KEY. Something that *I* start the engine with. Something I hold. So I needed many crosses before this answer dawned on me.
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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cluing is just terrible today. I have NEVER gotten an EYE EXAM at the DMV!!! An EYE test, sure. That clue is just outright wrong. Also, SPARK PLUGs don’t start an engine. They are just one of many things needed to run an engine but it’s a real stretch to say they start one.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows that EYE EXAM and "eye test" are synonyms, no matter which of those is the officially approved one used in-house at the DMV, which -- who even cares? Why would you need to keep track of that?
Delete(It reminds me of the Great Debate over "legos". The Lego corporation decided among themselves that the plural should be "lego", but that's purely their convention -- and why some people so insist that others should conform to an arbitrary corporate convention in their private at-home conversation, I don't understand. People will use language as they see fit, without necessarily bothering to check whether they're using the "right" word or phrase according to the official agency.)
Came to the comments to say this about SPARK PLUG. It's needed for the engine to run, but it's as important for STARTING the engine as, say, gasoline or air or pistons or any other part.
DeleteI agree with you. I don't think EYE EXAM AND Eye Test are synonomous. An eye exam is what you get from your ophthalmlogist, who checks for glaucoma and other things, checks pupil response, measures peripheral vision, and lots of other things. I do not get an eye exam at the DMV.
DeleteJust to be even more persnickety, I think what you get at the DMV (actually the RMV here in Massachusetts) is a "vision test."
DeleteI’ll weigh in to say that generally the words test and exam are synonymous and when it’s the DMV it’s pretty low level. I guess if you think an eye exam includes actually looking INTO your eye, you have a point. But, I just meditate and repeat Joaquin’s Dictum when I start “agitating” on these things…:)
DeleteI cede that those are valid points -- while people generally use "test" and "exam" interchangeably for the same things (as @Beezer was saying), I agree that "eye exam" is probably most commonly used to refer to a medical examination of the eyeball itself. Thus, I think @jberg's take is the most accurate one. (But then to loop back to my original point: I think someone could also call it a "vision exam" without any fear of being misunderstood.)
DeleteDisliked those two, as well as BSide. While exam and test are synonyms "eye exam" and "eye test" are not. When I go to the ophthalmologist I get ane eye exam to see what is wrong with my eyes and an eye test to determine what my glasses Rx is. Never heard sideB referring to the B-Side of 45. Spark plug is pretty far down the list of operations for starting an engine (assuming engine has spark plugs)
DeleteWas wondering if I was being too pedantic about SPARKPLUG but I guess not! Definitely not responsible for *starting* the engine, though necessary for it to run.
DeleteHahaha @Jared…join the PEDANTIC EXPRESS with the rest of us!
DeleteAbout all those who as Beezer said humorously were on the pedantic express about exam & test, i see your point but it is irrelevant to a crossword puzzle. (See comment about Joaquin’s dictum., close enough for crosswords). A crossword is s puzzle with clues not a dictionary. Ditto for spark plug. Close enough for crosswords.
DeleteThe other problem with SPARK PLUG is that it is not a device for starting an engine. It's a device that makes an engine run, whether you're starting it or not. Engine's not gonna start without it, but that is not its purpose in life.
ReplyDeleteHmm, never heard of a diesel engine I see. Or an external combustion engine. Lots of engines do just fine without spark plugs.
DeleteAnd to get really pedantic, diesel engines don't have spark plugs but they can be started.
DeleteInteresting discussion about the SPARK PLUG starting the engine. Reminds me that I have to get up the back and get some wood chipping done this week. (Checks weather app. Yes, looks good.) When it comes to firing up that brute of a machine, I am the starting device. I'm the one who has to initiate the process. If all goes well I get help from other starting devices: the rope, the flywheel, the magneto, and the spark plug. If any one of those things doesn't work, I'm left sweating and cursing in a cold field beside a large useless machine. So ... I vote yes for the SPARK PLUG being a starting device. A crucial one. No ignition, no start.
DeleteHah! I just posted a comment about cranking up my gas powered chipper and completely forgot to even consider how my diesel tractor starts. Very reliably, actually, as long as I pre-heat that combustion chamber. So, yeah, maybe spark plugs aren't all that necessary.
DeleteA challenging downs-mostly solve today. I made all the mistakes Rex did, plus a few of my own. Thought the place with the long lines would be TSA, then tore that out, only to see TSA at the bottom of the grid. Weird when that happens.
ReplyDeleteThat Bing Crosby record must set a record for slowest tempo of any pop song ever.
Yes, the famous UPC code: the universal product code code.
ReplyDeleteSee also MLB baseball
DeleteI’ll pay for that product with cash from the ATM machine.
DeleteAnd you’ll need your PIN number to do that.
DeleteHarder than most Mondays. Lucky guess for the AIS/SZA and DOJOS/DOCTER crosses. Agree that the cluing was inaccurate in places.
ReplyDeleteWhat Rex said for the most part. I kind of like the pangram effort when the theme is a little dull - but the over fill is clunky due to it.
ReplyDeleteHayes Carll
Not a huge fan of any of the music but they all fit. The revealer is underwhelming. We get an OMAR and GORE slant. One could argue EXAM vs test. NORMALIZE and SPARK PLUG are fine longs although again we could question the validity of “starting an engine”.
Amber Digby
Pleasant enough Monday morning solve. Good game last night at least.
Have You Ever Been To LITTLE ROCK
I tried solving downs-only but I got stuck with BSIDE and had never heard of BABY GRAND. Finally had to look at the Across clues to get myself out.
ReplyDeleteAs I filled in this grid, it seemed that every time I turned a corner I ran into answers that felt interesting – words that were common enough to be in most everyone’s vocabulary, but not used so much that they’ve become dull.
ReplyDeleteWords like CHURN, GIRTH, UNKEMPT, TRYOUTS, DISARMS, and NORMALIZE.
The star answers, IMO, were the three colorful song titles, but these other answers backed those star answers up, like backup singers behind a star singer, who help make the star shine.
The result, for me, was a puzzle that was more than what we often get – a smashing theme surrounded by forgettable answers. No, the entire grid had an undercurrent of interest and beauty, and when I finished it, I thought, “Now that’s a high-quality puzzle.” And I felt good inside and out.
I’ve had the same reaction to your other puzzles, Peter, and am very grateful for your work. Thank you!
This was how it felt for me too! When I saw Peter was going for the pangram I was impressed that was still able to keep the fill interesting.
DeleteAgreed!
DeleteMy five favorite original clues from last week
ReplyDelete(in order of appearance):
1. Put in a good word, perhaps? (4)
2. Yogi, once (4)(3)
3. Shiny little platters (3)
4. It takes a long time to get this (3)
5. Hearts or spades, but not diamonds (4)(4)
EDIT
BEAR CUB
CDS
OLD
CARD GAME
My favorite encore clues from last week:
Delete[People often manage with them, in brief] (4)
[It might come with a shell] (3)
MBAS
OAR
Thanks for that I filled in card game but just now realize that hearts and spades are card games!
DeleteExcellent Monday puzzle. Solid theme. Few obscure PPP's. Interesting clues. I really don't get "downs only solving". Different strokes........ sure, but not for me, (I've tried it but it felt like watching TV with half the screen covered)
ReplyDeleteHa ha, that's a good analogy. I feel that way, too.
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteMy silly phone wouldn't connect to the Internet yesterday, hence no post. I know I was missed tremendously! 😁 When I went to the phone store, guess what? It had connected. Of course. The dude told me to try turning on Airplane Mode for a few seconds, then turning it back off if that happens again. Weird, but I'll try it.
Got a good chuckle from YesterPuzs ASSESSES. Knew @Anoa would jump on that. The ultimate POC. Haven't seen it for a bit.
Anyway, todays pus was good. But, like Rex, was looking for the second part of the answers to be rocks. I see the idea, rock songs with "LITTLE" synonyms, but how cool would it have been with literal ROCKs? Hoping some of y'all come up with some that are out there.
Regular 15x15 grid today, after last weeks RSGs (Random Sized Grids 😁). I hold no disdain against Pangrams, why worry about such trifles? It didn't diminish the fill today.
Isn't AIS something beside how it's clued today? I thought I've seen it before. Damn AI, the robots will take over once they become self aware. Not just paranoid Science Fiction, I'm tellin' ya.
On that EEK note, ILL see USTED later.
Have a great Monday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
AIS x SZA (?) What the heck is that all about? That’s one cross I definitely wish I could UNSEE.
ReplyDeleteToday we only got the kindergarten version of our math test in Roman Numerals (VII). We’ll see if the difficulty grows as the week progresses (ditto for the foreign contingent - even I recognized USTED today).
Agree with those who have questioned the clue for SPARK PLUG. Seems like a tough sell to lawyer that one into legitimacy. A bit of a bizarre Monday. I wonder if Rex is onto something with the adverse impact of squeezing all of the letters of the alphabet into the grid - once again, style and gimmickry trumps substance.
I agree that, unless it's part of the theme (something I do recall seeing), a pangram typically satisfies the constructor's goal but weakens the fill. How can it not? The DMV-AIS/VII-SZA double cross was to house the V and Z.
DeleteLEDSPASZATIN (middle row) could have its own place of crosswordese honor.
At least LEDSPASZATIN is 3 actual words and the name of a crossworthy singer. OOXTEPLERNON is laughing at that from a completely separate dimension.
DeleteSpeaking of actual words, what's up with ILL? I'LL even take I'LL, but why is that clued as an abbreviation and not, you know, the word ILL?
No one calling out the fact that Go To Jail is not a space on a Monopoly board? It’s just Jail.
ReplyDeleteThere is a “go to jail” space. It’s in the opposite corner from the actual jail space.
DeleteThe space diagonally across from jail (with a big blue police officer on my board) is Go To Jail.
DeleteGo To Jail is indeed a monopoly square. It’s in the opposite corner from jail. Google image a monopoly board if you still can’t picture it.
DeleteGood catch. "GO TO..." is on the card. ("Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200")
DeleteIt is a space on the board. The corner spaces are GO, Jail, Free Parking, and Go to Jail.
DeleteI for one am very glad this was cleared up!
DeleteMedium difficulty for a Monday. I don't have a whole lot else to say, except that I mostly liked the array of grid entries because as words, many of them just look interesting to me. I like CURACAO for instance. And also the rap-name SZA.
ReplyDeleteI do not like AIS as clued. Bring back the pale-throated sloths from puzzles of yesteryear! Besides, they're much cuter than the water-guzzling, energy-devouring, pollution-spewing behemoth data centers underlying the mass technology of AI that is being rammed down our collective throats whether we like it or not. (I'm just not that enthusiastic to bend my knee toward the borg they want us to accept, NYTXW editor team -- if any of you are listening.)
Aside from that nit, it was a harmless Monday diversion that brought a few SMILEYS, so thank you PG, and sorry that our blogger-in-chief described it using the R-rated word "Scrabble-f***ing". Some days he likes it less than on other days, and this is one of those days.
Love “the Borg” reference! Btw…some people might be interested in new series Pluribus. Let me underscore SOME.
DeleteHave not commented in months. Only wish to add the cluing and the fill seems to have been more about the constructor than the solve.
ReplyDeleteSolved this as a themeless, had @Rex’s question-mark about the revealer at the end, and came to the same conclusion he did: rock songs with something about little in their titles -- no pebbles, cobbles, or gravel in sight. Also found it a bit awkward, but enjoyed the puzzle overall (and got a kick out of the pangramism).
ReplyDeleteThat BABY GRAND/GIRTH row did me in at first. Had “waist” for GIRTH and BABY GiANt! (GiANt might, of course, have wrecked the theme, but I was solving themelessly, as I said.) I wonder if there are any songs entitled BABY GiANt or GiANt BABY, for that matter – I’ll have to do some research.
Have some friends who spent a lovely week in CURAÇAO a couple of years ago. They loved the historical Dutch architecture and ambiance. They couldn’t bring themselves to drink blue curaçao, though, as they found the startling color off-putting – guess they never discovered the orange version, although they’re not really liqueur people.
Note to self: add AREPA to your crossword-inspired list of exotic breads, and memorize the Greek alphabet. (I did memorize the NATO alphabet last fall and periodically recite it to my husband to make sure I still remember – he never fails to be surprised that R is ROMEO and not ROGER.)
Thanks, Peter Gorman!
@Barbara S, I too was solving as a themeless because downs-only meant I couldn't quite get it. And hands up for BABY GIANT!
DeleteYeah, SZA makes a heck of a pair with AIS, A to Z in one patch. And per @Southside Johnny, are we in for MCLXVI less CLXVII one of these weeks? Thought this was a fun puzzle with some clues on the edge of technical accuracy but still in the ballpark.
ReplyDeleteLet's see: is it CMXCIX?
Delete@Easy Ed, I remember 1988 fondly because it was MCMLXXXVIII. Just a few years later it was super short: MM.
DeleteI have to admit that I did not find this Monday puzzle easy.Even knowing the theme, it took too long to solve.☹️☹️
ReplyDeleteThis felt a bit choppy until the SW where I got into that ALGORE rhythm.
ReplyDeleteDebra: Hey Manuel. Can you pick a side of this 45 to play?
Manuel: SÍDEB! SIDEB. And as an aside, A side sucks.
And speaking of "A" vs "B", If 59D is KALE "A", then 26D must be CALEB.
To plagiarize and disfigure an old Karnak the Magnificent joke, what happens when ICE'S smoke grenades and tear gas clear in southern California? UCLA.
This puzzle ROCKs a LITTLE. Thanks, Peter Gorman.
@egs You Rock!
DeleteMy favorite Karnak-type joke: Washington Irving. Who was our first President, Max?
DeleteWell if nothing else today's puzzle got me to put on some Little Feat this AM, and Of Monsters and Men's Little Talks, so that's fun. Understand @tht's point but agree with anon6:17 - wanted EYEtest and knew that was wrong but EXAM definitely did not come to mind right away. You don't get those at the DMV. Didn't want to move my door hinges any more than I wanted to start my car with a spark plug, but both were ok here. Never understood the appeal of blue Curacao. Like my orange liqueurs just fine, but don't like adding blue dye to them just for appearance's sake, at least if I want to drink it.
ReplyDeleteHmm. Rex and some of the commentators felt this was not that easy. Maybe it was just on my wavelength but I thought it was as easy as any Monday I've seen. (But I don't solve downs only).
ReplyDeleteDowns only, it started out very hard, then got a lot easier, but eventually I had to look at some across clues. Didn’t know any of those songs, but I still got the themers, and just thought they were tied together in their little-ness.
ReplyDeleteCaleb's appearance as a spy comes up in the book of Numbers, so a reading of Exodus won't help much in conjuring his name.
ReplyDeleteOjalá pudiera borrar esa imagen de mi mente.
ReplyDeleteGoodness this was way rougher on me than usual. I blame the Chicago game last night. How about that last touchdown throw, eh? All for naught. The main holdup was typing BSIDE instead of SIDEB and piggishly sticking with it way too long.
The theme here is mystifying. The LITTLE I get. The ROCK I don't. Those are hardly rock songs. It's OKED though as I've spent most of my life only understanding about half of what is going on around me. Thankfully I've learned to compensate for my slow wit by expanding my GIRTH and reading this blog.
I think we can all agree we're lucky to be involved in an activity that keeps our 4th grade Roman numeral education relevant. Otherwise it would be analog clocks and jazz lead sheets and * poof * nothing else. We'd lose our beloved X-III=VII chops and soon we'd be asking Siri what time it is rather than pulling out our pocket watches. One day Siri will say, "Don't worry about what time it is sweetheart, I will take care of everything until the end."
NORMALIZE impacts the moisture content of this puzzle.
The wrist is also a great place not to find a pulse.
A SPARKPLUG doesn't start an engine. It's more of a voyeur watching everybody else doing their thing first and only after everyone is gyrating does he finally get into the action.
❤️ SMILEYS. EEK.
People:9
Places: 2
Products: 7
Partials: 6
Foreignisms: 3
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 27 of 78 (35%)
Funny Factor: 3 😐
Uniclues:
1 😀😃😄😁😆🙂🙃
2 Tosses Cleetus and his buddies in the river.
3 Best places to battle a rat.
4 "You understand that rock, two months of his salary, is meant to purchase a lifetime of you tolerating him."
5 "Gimme a Z, gimme an A, gimme a P...."
6 When they actually pull the guns from their cold, dead hands.
1 ONGOING SMILEYS
2 CASTS SMALL TOWN
3 EEK DOJOS
4 DISSES GEM
5 SPARKPLUG CHANT (~)
6 QUALITY DISARMS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Triangle salesmen is honest about its use as a circle. REP SQUARED UP RISKS.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nicee use of the Imperfect Subjunctive "pudiera". Your Spanish is really coming along.
Delete@Gary, I got lucky: that Chicago - LA game is the first NFL game I've seen this season. What a finish!!
Delete@pabloinnh 11:43 AM
DeletePhew. Thank you. I was way out of my depth on that one.
@okanaganer12:50 PM
I will admit to being a playoff person for most sports. I don't pay much attention to the regular seasons. The NFL games the last two weeks have mostly been joyous. Helps that the Broncos have a stake for the first time in a decade. And I quite literally didn't think a quarterback could throw a pass like the one at the end of the Chicago game.
AIS—Artificial Intelligences, plural? That's just awful. They shuld be called AI systems.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the objections to SPARKPLUG. I like to start my car with a battery, ever since the cranking method went out of style.
ReplyDeletePretty easy today, thought i knew AARON and the second A gave me ARISES but the rest needed repair to find CALEB. Never heard of BABYGRAND or Mr. DOCTER, and of course SZA was a WTF and there's AI sneaking in again, this time as a plural. I was afraid of this after yesterday's AIART.
Veteran solvers, of which I am one, will remember ANI as "black cuckoo". And those things are SMILEYS? OK. ,makes sense.
I can't see NORMALIZE without thinking of how much our execrable leader has done to NORMALIZE vulgar behavior Sad that you can say "He's an idiot "and 90% of people will know who you're talking about.
Nice enough Monday, PD. In fact, Pretty Darned good. Thanks for all the fun.
Fairly breezy puzzle solve with an “okay” theme. I knew all the songs but I can see how a lot of folks would not know BABYGRAND.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I didn’t look up GIRTH because Rex’s “search” sounds like something I’d plug in. Anyway, yes…I had in “waist” first AND I would not ever reference a human torso measurement as GIRTH. All in all a minor nit. I don’t pay much attention to some of the minor clueing inaccuracies that some bring up such as whether the main purpose of a SPARKPLUG is to start a car…it IS a device (along with the starter or ignition) that starts a car.
Thanks Peter Gorman for a pretty good Monday!
The word GIRTH is related to the word "gird" (see also "girdle"), where there's this sense of a belt or loop circling around the middle. The -th ending is parallel to the -th endings of the words "width" and "length", so a measurement of some sort.
DeleteOf course the pre-occupying power of sex talk guarantees that GIRTH becomes more and more associated in people's minds with penis girth, crowding out other associations, such as the girth of packages used to determine postal rates. I've seen "girthy" as well, which carries this sense of heftiness that Rex referred to, but nowadays saddled with an inevitable tee-hee because people naturally gravitate to the Urban Dictionary sense.
Lol! Until TODAY I hadn’t equated GIRTH with…THAT. Seems a little presumptuous…for ANYONE. Ok. I’ve said enough.
DeleteVery easy. Now I know why some do Downs Only on Mondays but not brave enough to try it - ???
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peter :)
I liked the ALA/ALE crossing, with ALI elsewhere in the grid for the trifecta. And not knowing my singers that well, I had SiA before SZA, AIS reflecting 90 degress to SIA, a right angle palindrome!
ReplyDeleteIt took me a few moments to notice that those emoticons were all smiling; but I could see SMILEYS in the crosses, and looked again.
The theme was tough, as I didn't know any of those songs--but the clues made it clear that that was what they were, and the revealer helped a lot. I never noticed the pangram, though.
Like Rex, I had the C and thought "that must be CALEB. But who is CALEB?" I had no idea.
I got Caleb the unknown off the B.
DeleteHidden Diagonal Word clue, Monday appropriate:
ReplyDeleteProperty of Porgy's "woman" (5 letters, answer below)
Another successful downs-only solve (I'm getting better at this), although this one was laborious. I had many of the same hiccups as Rex, although I did know CALEB (because Joshua wouldn't fit) and I guessed right on SIDEB.
But my stickiest problem centered around DOCTER. I was vdery confident in 47D END & 56D JULES, leaving me with D _ J _ _.
My first guess was DiJon, but that didn't set off any lightbulbs. Ah, thought I, perhaps it DeJay, until I decided that's not how to
spell it. Finally, AL GORE strode into my memory and DOJOS appeared.
In the Southeast, the SPARKPLUG answer was very slow to come, and I could not think of a 4-letter alternative for test (EYE EXAM, test taken at the DMV)!!
Answer to the HDW clue: BESSS (aka BESS'S--a great answer for a constructor badly in need of several POC (Plurals of Convenience) in one section. BESSS begins with the B in SIDEB, 28D, and rises to the NE.
PS: Hope all your PSIS are happy PSIS today!
Good grief! It occurred to me that on this day, of Indiana University playing in the College Football Championship…there are a few things that point to Indiana. First, the obvious INDY. Then there is SMALLTOWN which is Seymour, Indiana where John Mellencamp was born/grew up. I will add in Elton John’s Indiana connection due to his dedication of Candle in The Wind to Ryan White at Farm Aid IV, his deep connection with Ryan and continued devotion to Jeannie, Ryan’s mother.
ReplyDeleteOk. I can’t find an Indiana connection with Billy Joel.
Was sailing along until I came to a screeching halt on the Midwest after entering b-side! Took a couple of minutes but finally got there. I hate to get stumped on a Monday.
ReplyDeleteA fun Monday downs-only. Got all the themers mostly from the downs but I must admit I didn’t understand the whole theme. I saw the relationship between TINY, SMALL, BABY, and LITTLE but didn’t get the ROCK part because I didn’t recognize that they were song titles. TINY DANCER, yes, but SMALL TOWN, no, because, though I know the song, I didn’t know that was what it was called. Never heard of BABY GRAND. LITTLE ROCK just filled itself in.
ReplyDeleteDid a post-solve review and realized the theme was tighter than I had thought, though I’m not sure I’d call Sir Elton’s TINY DANCER or anything by Billy Joel “rock”. Pop, for sure, but that’s about my only complaint and it’s a pretty minor one.
Only real trouble spots were at 55A where I had D_JO_ and dropped in DiJOn. That mistake was brought to my attention by DISARMS at 49D but I still didn’t know the director’s name. Had to take it on faith that he was a real DOCTER and didn’t just play one in Hollywood and Crossworld Then, over on the west coast I had to guess a biblical name and a South American flatbread. I was sure that I knew the flatbread but it was just playing hide and seek in my brain and the bible guy had to end in B (I had BABY GRAND in by that time), so it was just a matter of throwing some letters at the blanks until they triggered something. Et voila, CALEB and AREPA to the rescue.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, AI should not be pluralized. Just no.
Easy for me solved the standard way. No erasures and DOCTER was it for WOEs.
ReplyDeleteCute theme, low on junk, liked it.
Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #1080 was medium for me with the top half a bit easier than the rest. Good luck!
I thought this was, in general, a Monday-level puzzle, but it required a lot of "squinting." I accept that one does have to squint a bit at clues and themes—allow for some very loose interpretations—but this puzzle called for a lof of that. I now have blurred vision and may have to go for an EYE EXAM, and not at the DMV, for heaven's sake! Like Gary, I get the " small" theme, but the 'rock song' theme seems pretty iffy. And AIS just made me wince. Hope tomorrow's puzzle is cleaner and more sparkly.
ReplyDelete@Lewis, to your 7:28 post, I want to say, "Exactly!" Thank you for expressing so well what I thought. (For those who don't remember, he wrote: "As I filled in this grid, it seemed that every time I turned a corner I ran into answers that felt interesting – words that were common enough to be in most everyone’s vocabulary, but not used so much that they’ve become dull. Words like CHURN, GIRTH, UNKEMPT, TRYOUTS, DISARMS, and NORMALIZE."
ReplyDeleteI think in a Monday puzzle, these qualify as GEMs. I'd also add FANG and COAX.
Not being familiar with any of the songs, I solved this one as a sort of half-themeless. After TINY DANCER appeared from crosses, it wasn't hard to expand SM...into SMALL and then anticipate other pint-sized adjectives for the rest. I liked the cross of TINY DANCER with TRYOUTS, perhaps for one of the recent Nutcracker ballets recently put on by countless SMALLTOWN companies.
If you play the C SIDE (aka SIDE C) of Hey Jude/Revolution - that is, the rim of the disc - backwards at 78 rpm, you'll find all the proof you need that Paul is, indeed, dead.
ReplyDeleteSolving down clues only, I had the exact same reactions as Rex: missed that the theme is "rock songs, had BSIDE, never heard of DOCTER, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd there were a lot of names again today, particularly short ones: OMAR AUDI INDY ALI SZA YURI UCLA NOAH TSA. And why oh why on God's green earth clue ILL as Illinois abbreviated? Ridiculous.
And hands up for being baffled by the SPARK PLUG clue. It's a "device to keep an engine running"... do they really not know the difference?
Lol @O! Okay…fair enough, if ONE (maybe two) on blink. Anyway, just teasing you.
DeleteEarly solve for Hugh today! Perfectly good Monday. Like @Rex, music was very much in my wheelhouse and it was great fun to remember the iconic bus scene from Almost Famous. Unlike @Rex and some others, I do not solve downs only so this was a very easy solve. My holdup was Pete the Director of UP, etc...
ReplyDeletePuzzles like this are the reason I don't solve downs only - you just miss some of the charm of the whole exercise.
I had to think a bit about the Billy Joel tune as, as @Rex points out, it is not as up there in the charts has his other work.
I also have no problem with EYEEXAM, SPARKPLUG, etc... my take is that this is a crossword, not a dictionary so it's fun to stretch things a bit. I'm not saying everyone should feel this way, but it's how I groove.
Thank you Peter for a nice start to the week.
Lotsa neat stuff in this here MonPuz. It rocks.
ReplyDeleteCaught onto the "runty" part of the puztheme pretty quick, but did not exactly foresee the revealer, until I solved its part of the puz. Nice rockin little revealer meat.
staff weeject picks: The SZA & TSA sisters.
fave moo-cow eazy-E MonPuz clue: {Branded cotton swab} = QTIP.
other fave stuff included: SPARKPLUG. UNKEMPT. GOTO/ONGOING. DOCTER No-Know. NORMALEYES & IZEEXAM.
Thanx, Mr. Gorman dude. Nice constructioneerin job.
Masked & Anonymo8Us
p.s.
runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
I agree with Rex that the theme is awkward. I personally think SIDE B is also awkward as clued; I don't think people in the music industry would use that term for a single rather than B-SIDE. SIDE B is the second side of an album (SIDE A, SIDE B).
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 1:17
DeleteWhat people in general say is what matters The clue didn’t ask for an industry term. And many so do say side b. So nothing wrong with the answer.
@Lewis, Thanks for the favorite clues list. Always enjoy seeing them again. My fave today was 4. which I did not remember from doing the puzzle but reading the clue /answer are me smile.
ReplyDeleteI was not aware of any of the song titles so had trouble with the "rock" part of the revealer. Agree with Lewis that there were a lot of good words and with early commenters that it should be eye "test" not exam for the DMV.
Ain't no ophthalmologists at the DMV, where you get an eye test, not an eye exam, and it's the B Side, not Side B. A sparkplug isn't really a "device" and you can start a car with one missing or broken.
ReplyDeleteThe cluing just gets more and more sloppy these days.
Gotcha, but before I got “old” MY optometrist did more than the “20-20” (do you need glasses (?) test/exam.
DeleteToo late for most people to see this, but for anyone (such as @Lewis) who appreciates clever cluing, check out Erik Agard’s challenging New Yorker puzzle today. I don’t think I have ever seen so many delightful clues in one puzzle (including one that I doubt would get approved for the NYT).
ReplyDelete... and Erik is one of the best when it comes to witty wordplay cluing. Thank you for the heads up!
Delete@Wanderlust... thanks for the New Yorker mention; some nice clues indeed. They call it "challenging" but it didn't seem too hard to me (12 minutes). Which clue is the one you think the NYT wouldn't run... 5 down?
DeleteYes, that’s the one
DeleteMe. Agard is the top of my “favorite constructors of the 21st century” list and I concur, the New Yorker you mentioned was a delight!
DeleteThe fill covered a wide swath this morning from the first days of the Space Race and YURI Gagarin to fairly current rap with SZA’s 2022 Billboard success. It also contained some excellent words: COAX, GIRTH, CASTS, UNKEMPT.
ReplyDeleteFor me though, theme felt like it was struggling to fit the reveal. As OFL mentioned, the songs all (kind of) fit the very wide category of rock, and the titles have a word that describes something “little.” In @Rex parlance, a bit of”eat a sandwich-y.” However, the artists and the songs mentioned are anything but “little,” and honestly, I have some difficulty defining each of the theme songs as in the rock genre. But, it’s Monday and the theme neither slowed the solve nor left me bereft of enjoyment.
My nit was the EXAM part of EYE EXAM. I just think EXAM is the wrong word for the quick vision screening at the DMV. I think an EYE EXAM feels extensive and medical whereas all that’s happening at the DMV is a perfunctory vision check to determine if the applicant is able to read signs and determine color. I forgive today’s nit because sometimes the grid needs what it needs, and the EXAM allowed UNKEMPT and COAX - both excellent and better than average Monday words- to work.
Good solid Monday, on the easy side, with interesting stuff. TIL that TIN is used in bronze, also Peter DOCTER and CURAÇAO.
ReplyDeleteFor me solving downs only is for the birds,( or dinosaurs ?! ) . I realize I really prefer to see the puzzle as the constructors intended.
Definitely should be BSIDE... listen to Tif sing about it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXYmA12_s6o
ReplyDeleteI had BSIDE as well, but only momentarily because I enjoy bouncing around the grid using both directions and “CASTS a shadow” at 26A is such a common phrase I had to change to SIDE B despite the fact that except in crosswords, it’s “the B-SIDE.”
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ReplyDeleteI believe the revealer LITTLE ROCK describes the three words like the following:
ReplyDeleteTINY (little)
DANCER (one who ‘rocks’/moves)
SMALL TOWN (Little Rock, even though a capital, in the bigger picture is still a town)
BABY (little)
GRAND (..piano, an instrument used to ‘rock’ i.e. make rock music)
Picky day.
ReplyDeleteI would never in a million years guess that test v exam. Side B And spark plug would be the three main answers subject next to the most criticism. To me they were all close enough for crosswords. Not even a close questions
I guess I have an entirely different idea of what crossword answers should be than many commenters.
I do agree that AIS and STALES (yesterday). are very ugly and I was not happy to see them.
To people who don’t like Shortz letter games (yesterday’s Eros to rose ) commenters have said Shortz has been quoted saying he loves them. Though I am not a fan , I accept that they will keep appearing as long as he is chief editor. I
Lol DGD…AGREED
DeleteRock Pedants' Corner: Tiny Dancer, while not released as a single until 1972, appeared on the album Madman Across The Water in 1971. So there I was trying to stretch Rocket Man (actually 1972) to ten letters...
ReplyDeleteMy puzzle is complete since yesterday. I can't erase or change any letters but the game will not mark the puzzle as complete and I'm about to lose my streak. Any advice?
ReplyDelete