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Andy's partner in an old radio sitcom / WED 2-11-26 / One-named singer with the 2017 platinum album "Melodrama" / Matchmaking site with a "synagogue attendance" filter / ___ pear (applelike fruit) / Hoped-for prognosis for an election incumbent / 1957 rock 'n' roll classic suggested by this puzzle's circled letters / "Then, window, let day in, and let ___ out": Juliet / Glasses sans glass
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Constructor: Joseph Gangi
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
"GOODNESS GRACIOUS" (18A: "Oh, for heaven's sake!") [this is the line that immediately precedes "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE" in the chorus of the song]
DEFIES
GRIND
(34A: Openly resists)
(38A: Arduous routine)
DOGBREED
LIFE
(29A: Newfoundland or Labrador retriever)
(36A: "Then, window, let day in, and let ___ out": Juliet)
MIRE
SAFESEAT
(42A: Swampy land)
(45A: Hoped-for prognosis for an election incumbent)
SOFIA
CATERS
(40A: "Priscilla" director Coppola)
(43A: Does the dishes?)
"Great Balls of Fire" is a 1957 popular song recorded by American rock and roll musician Jerry Lee Lewis on Sun Records and featured in the 1957 movie Jamboree. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. The Jerry Lee Lewis 1957 recording was ranked as the 96th-greatest song ever by Rolling Stone. It is written in AABA form. It sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States, making it one of the best-selling singles at that time.
• • •
I wonder how well younger solvers know this song. It's a classic, but I don't know if "classics" from the '50s still factor into younger people's store of songs. The song is well before my time (came out 12 years before I was born), but I know it very well—rock music simply hadn't been around *that* long when I was a kid, and so the store of "oldies" seemed finite and you could still hear them all over the place. Also, Jerry Lee Lewis was a ... let's say, colorful figure. Frequently in the news (and, after the '50s, usually not for music—he had many wives, many personal tragedies, many tax problems). "GREAT BALLS OF FIRE" came out in November of 1957, the month before he married his 13-year-old cousin (who eventually left him, stating that she had been "subject to every type of physical and mental abuse imaginable" (wikipedia)). He lost two children very young in separate accidents (car, pool), At least two of his wives died young (drugs, pool). But as an artist, he is best known for his wild, energetic playing style. Here's Elton John from a 2013 interview:
"[Until 'GREAT BALLS OF FIRE'], the piano playing that I had heard had been more sedate. My dad collected George Shearing records, but this was the first time I heard someone beat the shit out of a piano. When I saw Little Richard at the Harrow Granada, he played it standing up, but Jerry Lee Lewis actually jumped on the piano! This was astonishing to me, that people could do that. Those records had such a huge effect on me, and they were just so great. I learned to play like that." (wikipedia)
The overall grid was easy and a bit dull. Lots of 3-4-5s, esp. through the middle—gotta really divide and control that physical space in order to make all the "balls" work out right. But the "balls" themselves aren't interesting from a solving perspective (since they aren't directly connected to clues at all), and the fill drags a little as a result. You do get a few nice longer answers around the edges. I'm thinking about "YOU LOST ME" and BEST OF ALL, and even SAT IN FOR, but the other longer answers are a little on the meh side, and the short gunk gets a little gunkier than it should, probably (EEN EEO EINS EERIE ELS ELA ESS ERAT ... that's just the "E"s). I admire the architecture of this puzzle more than I enjoyed solving it.
Bullets:
- 1A: Lewis Carroll's "The ___ and the Carpenter" ("WALRUS") — I got this easily enough, but only because, if you solve crosswords long enough, you'll learn a weird lot about Alice in Wonderland, whether you want to or not. Think of it like the Star Wars of the olden days—a seemingly endless well of trivia for the crossword to draw from. I don't know that I've ever read Alice in Wonderland (or Through the Looking Glass) all the way through. Maybe I saw the cartoon? Anyway, I don't actually remember the WALRUS, but I think I've seen that WALRUS in at least one other (maybe cryptic?) puzzle just this week. Anyway, you'll see the cake message "EAT ME" or stray words from "Jabberwocky" and a lot of other Carroll-related stuff if you solve long enough.
- 45A: Hoped-for prognosis for an election incumbent (SAFE SEAT) — something about the wording of this clue seems off. SAFE SEAT is not a "hoped-for" thing; it's usually a structural thing, built into the seat itself. A district that contains an overwhelmingly "blue" or "red" voting bloc is considered a SAFE SEAT (for D or R, respectively). An "incumbent" obviously "hopes for" re-election," so they hope their seat is "safe" in that sense, but that's not really what SAFE SEAT means.
- 9D: Taylor Swift's "___ Song" ("OUR") — OK, there's no need to go to Taylor Swift for the simple word "OUR." That's back-to-back Swift days. It's getting worse than Star Wars. Don't make me break out a Swift counter. The puzzle has got to me more imaginative than this. Returning to the Swift well over and over, even when you absolutely don't have to, is a little exhausting.
- 53D: Actress Fanning (ELLE) — would've loved to have seen some mention here of her recent Academy Award nomination for her performance in Sentimental Value (my favorite movie of last year). I don't think I ever paid much attention to Fanning's work before that, but she is perfect as the superstar American actress (mis-)cast in the comeback film of a highly regarded older director (played by Stellan Skarsgård). The director's own daughter (also an actress) turned the role down, and so ELLE Fanning gets cast instead and ends up in a kind of surrogate daughter relationship with the director, while the real daughter (who has a lot of justifiable anger toward her father) looks on from the outside. It's all very touching and remarkably funny, and my wife and I both marveled at Fanning, who has to play an actress who is *wrong* for the part—not broadly, obviously, over-the-top wrong. Just ... wrong. It's a subtle, beautiful performance.
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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103 comments:
What the hey, @Rex? No mention of the oversize grid (16 wide)?
The puzzle was Easy. As usual for early-week puzzles, I ignored the clues for the longer answers. Liked it a bit more than OFL did.
* * * _ _
Overwrites:
i bet before AS IF at 11A
toPS OFF before CAPS OFF at 43D
No WOEs.
Who the heck leaves one SHOE at somebody's front door (7A) and presumably limps around, tracking mud into the house for the rest of their stay?!?
Oh, @Rex, you should read both Alice books--they're wonderful! If possible get The Annotated Alice, by Martin Gardner--Gardner is an interesting writer in his own right and even more so when analyzing Alice. I think it's better to read Alice first on its own and then the Gardner annotations, but whatever you do you should read them--they are classics (and much better than the Disney movie).
This puzzle shook my nerves and rattled my brain.
A fine enough puzzle.
The problem I had was that as soon as I got 18A, it was immediately apparent to me that those four circles would contain the letters F I R E, and that the companion long answer at the bottom of the grid would be GREATBALLSOFFIRE.
No brilliance on my part. Just been doing puzzles for so long that things like this jump out at me.
But there are lots of people doing the puzzles who haven't been doing puzzles for nearly as long, so this is not a complain or a criticism. Just an observation
Well, I was only two when that song came out, but I sure heard it plenty growing up and have that unexplainable fondness we have for music that reached us at an impressionable age. For that reason I enjoyed the two long revealers, which certainly justify the extra-wide grid. But the (not so) great balls of FIRE? That’s the sort of stuff I ignore while solving, then glance at afterward while the constructor’s imaginary voice in my head says, “Look what I did.”
Came here to recommend The Annotated Alice.
I really wanted RING OF FIRE when I saw what was going on in the circles, but of course it would not fit. So then I thought maybe they wanted LOVES RING OF FIRE – the original title – but that would not fit either. And it turns off I was off by five years, anyway.
Solved as a themeless - by the time I reached the revealer the grid was nearly complete. Circles were useless - I can’t see them solving on my phone.
Slobberbone
Overall fill was fine I guess. Liked that top stack of YOI LOST ME - GOODNESS GRACIOUS - SNEER AT. EEN, SYST, CEE and others not so much. Agree with Rex on whether Jerry Lee will be known to all.
Crazy As A LOON
Tough week of puzzles so far.
maps
“We’ll meet on EDGES, soon,” said I
Proud ’neath heated brow
This is Joseph’s second music-related theme in a row, his last being a Sondheim tribute. It’s also another where he features grid art, with those four-square circles – I don’t ever remember seeing those before (and please, anyone, correct me if you have).
Let me remind you that Joseph designed the puzzle with the cutest grid art I’ve ever seen – https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=3/16/2022 (spoiler alert: this puzzle image has the answers filled in).
Those larger circles today compared to the one-square circles we normally see in puzzles, are indeed “great balls”.
Lovely touch to have those fireballs symmetrical, and to not refer to GOODNESS GRACIOUS in the clue to the revealer, that is, to let it come as a self-discovery. Just a terrific build overall.
Joseph, you love Wednesdays, on which six of your seven Times puzzles have fallen. I love how well you emphasize the visual aspects of grids. Thank you for a fun and impressive outing!
So, it’s been plain to see that the Times team has been tinkering with the difficulty level of the days of the week. My thoughts on this are as an experienced solver whose favorite days are Friday and Saturday, as they require brain skills that accrue with time, skills that are satisfying and pleasurable to employ.
I would be selfish to ask that all days be at this level – the week should cover all solvers. But please, team, keep these two days high-difficulty-level. Don’t tinker with that. Let new solvers develop their skills through the week, to where one day they can earn their tough and tricky puzzles – start very easy on Monday and end very hard on Saturday. Let solvers at every level have their day(s).
That is, don’t blanket-easify the week, making every day easier. Keep those weekend days tough as ever. Thank you.
As a teenager in the 1950s, I remember this song being very risqué.I loved it as I love this puzzle.🎈🎈🎊🎊
@Lewis Yes!! Well reasoned and well put.
Ay, por el amor de Dios.
I'd say those are IFFY BALLS OF FIRE. Really hoped they'd burst into flames post solve. I loved this puzzle. Wacky and rollicking, but to be completely honest, I kinda miss the nonstop Gunk-fest from yesterday.
You'd probably only leave one SHOE at the door if you'd previously left one leg in a shark's jaw.
Words from Jerry to George after he tried to follow him to the Bubble Boy's house: "YOU LOST ME."
People: 4
Places: 0
Products: 7
Partials: 8
Foreignisms: 3
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 22 of 79 (28%)
Funny Factor: 3 😐
Uniclues:
1 What proud owners of pickup bed hardcovers can do.
2 Carry-all with a picture of your mom.
3 MAGA who works at the bank.
4 Fluffy wig for the immigrant who really will take yer job.
1 SNEER AT TARPS
2 FACE FROSTS TOTE (~)
3 LOON OF INTEREST
4 ASIAN BOT AFRO
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Two Years Ago: Make a blue copy of a blues machine. MIMEOGRAPH PHONOGRAPH.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I had fun with this one and thought the theme held up pretty well. Of course, I pretty much grew up with Jerry Lee, Little Richard and Chuck Berry, so I had a leg up on the youngsters out there.
Besides Tay Tay, we also have another one-named singer. It seems as if there is an endless supply of them. Of course, now that we have officially entered the age of 50%+ gunk contents, I guess I should be grateful that it wasn’t worse and just enjoy the relatively clean grid that we had today.
As your resident alphadoppeltotter, a role I’ve inexplicably taken in the past nine years, it is my duty to inform you that this puzzle has an unusually high number of double letters, at 24, where unusual is 20 or more. This is the first time this year that this has happened, but alas, it comes with an asterisk, as this grid is a column wider than standard.
I remain your humble servant, ever on the alert.
John Lennon is said to have been embarrassed about “I Am the Walrus” because he didn’t know, when writing the song, that the Walrus is the bad guy in the poem.
Ouch! A puzzle on getting kicked in the nuts!? Puh-leeze!
The late folksinger and union man Utah Phillips told the following joke when I saw him perform in NYC several hundred years ago. It was about Idaho Blackie whose land abutted that of the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood. Idaho would sit on his porch with his shotgun and shoot at ducks flying overhead. One day he hit a duck and it fell to earth onto the property of the neighbor. When Idaho went to retrieve it, the neighbor said, Hold on -- if it falls on my property, it's my duck. And Idaho said, But it was my shot that brought it down.
They argued for a while, and finally the neighbor said, Let's settle this in a way that brings honor to our great White Brotherhood. We'll take turns kicking each other in the balls, and the last man standing gets the duck. Idaho agreed and the neighbor said, Since your shot brought it down, you can go first. Idaho took a few steps back to get a running start and landed a perfect excruciating blow. The neighbor doubled up in agony and it took him a while to get up, dust himself off, and recover. When he was finally ready he said, Okay, it's my turn now. Idaho stood there, stroking his beard, looked at the guy and said: You know, I've been giving this a great deal of thought. You can have that duck.
Utah Phillips passed away in 2008. He was a wonderful singer and may have honed his sense of humor in the vaudeville theater his stepfather Syd Cohen ran in Cleveland before moving the family to Utah. Phillips was a great union supporter and a card-carrying member of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), also known as the Wobblies. Which is how you walk after getting kicked in . . . Enough.
Easy for the most part, definitely. But my last entry, CAPS OFF, took me a strangely long time (I couldn't remember the P in the nail polish brand OPI with confidence, and it took a while to grok "Does the dishes?" -- I was thinking more along the lines of gossip, or "dish it out", than CATERS. Nice misdirection. But the delay nudged it a small AMOUNT in the direction of Medium. I'll call it Easy-Medium.
I liked it more than Rex did, I believe. BEST OF ALL were the GREAT themers spanning across, whose front ends just whooshed into view after I secured their back ends. BEST OF ALL is good in its own right, and I thought YOU LOST ME had zip. SAT IN FOR and OF INTEREST: both solidly in the language. Okay, admittedly, these are not exactly mind-blowing, but at least they're not strained, and overall I would rate this as a clean grid, no matter what today's Gunk-o-meter will have to say. And clean grids are nothing to SNEER AT.
Type-overs: "vomiT" before EJECT, and "OCTet" before OCTAD (hey, what's the difference between those two words, anyway? when should I choose one over the other?), and that might be it.
Lastly: as a small data point, I can ask my children (both between 20 and 25 years old) if they know Jerry Lee Lewis's GREAT BALLS OF FIRE. I imagine they might. I'm often surprised by what they know on the pop music front, going back decades -- the easy accessibility of music helps in widening the scope of young people, if they are open to being widened. For example, I was surprised about a year ago when I found a Frank Sinatra CD in my daughter's car, who turned 22 just last month.
Bye now!
The younger generation knows great balls of fire from top gun
I didn’t mind the fact the great “balls” were squares, they certainly alluded to balls. So that was fine even though I thought the puzzle was way too easy for a Wednesday.
But sigh… do we not memorize wonderful verses like the Walrus and the Carpenter (or the Owl and the Pussycat) anymore? Who could ever forget:
The time has come,' the Walrus said,
To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings.'
Hey All !
Well, GOODNESS GRACIOUS, this puz has the F meter tilting towards Awesome! Six alone in just a small area on the bottom. Nice.
Pretty neat idea. Fun seeing the whole GGGBOF instead of just GREAT BALLS OF FIRE. I had entered the bottom Revealer first, and wondered how the top 16 would relate, as it was clued regularly, not pertaining to the Theme. Got a good chuckle when it filled in.
Kinda hoped each ball would be a different word (however, that would lose 3 F's), but I'm not thinking of any four letter synonyms for FIRE. Burn, maybe?
Fill pretty good, what with all the FIREs to work around. Heck, there's two in the center section. Surprised anything worked in there.
Different type ThursPuz. Nominating today be the "Day of the F". Har.
Have a great Wednesday!
Eleven F's - BEST OF ALL
RooMonster
DarrinV
Maybe your "leg up" has the other shoe.
Good one!
CEE. That’s all. Maybe the worst entry I’ve ever seen.
Way old enough to know Jerry Lee Lewis, so embarrassed to say that, before coming here, I wondered why the top spanner didn't relate to the bottom one (and revealer). Should the clues have been linked in a way? Should I have had more coffee? Should I have refrained from mentioning this?
We resisted SHOE until the crosses made it obvious. With (count 'em) 17 plurals (not counting a standalone ESS), here's a very awkward singular.
Expected an entertaining Rex rant..."What did you do with the other shoe? Did you leave it inside or outside the door? Was it raining (or snowing) and so it was wet? See first question. Were you being proactively polite or visiting clean freak friends? See first question."
Predicted 2-1/2 stars. The two theme answers must have pleased Rex sufficiently to round up to three, as after the JLL info, the first comment called the grid easy and dull (agree), and otherwise not a lot of positivity in the write-up.
18 three-letter words, 2 of which are plurals of two-letter words. Remarkably despite this, and the aforementioned plethora of plurals, only half as much gunk as yesterday per the GGGG.
GREATBALLSOFFIRE was as much a gimme for me as ELLE is for OFL, I guess. Jerry Lee Lewis was an interesting character. During a tour of Great Britain it surprised him to think people would find it unusual that he married his young cousin. I always liked his manic energy and how he played the hell out of a piano.
Solving online again as I forgot the print instructions that were kindly given to me. Someday I'll figure that out.
Aside from ELLE, I didn't remember SOFIA, but easy crosses. LEGEND before ARCANA slowed things down for a while, and the three-strings on the bottom was icky, but otherwise no complaints.
Thanks for a rock and roll reminder, JG Just Good enough to carry the gimmick, and thanks for all the fun.
On the Lewis scale, this counts as a fire spewing rant:)
A hearty second recommendation for Sentimental Value. It pulled me in immediately before the opening credits roll and had a great musical cue in “Nobody Knows” (the trouble I’ve seen) with the choir landing on the first line of text. It’s the kind of movie that makes you validate your feeling of general disappointment that other movies have such poor writing in the scripts even if you kind of enjoy them anyways.
I had the perfect experience in that the theme helped me open up the West. I think RP protests too much about the grid art aspect. They can be “great” in the sense of “large” in that they occupy 4 squares instead of one, and love them or not, they circles are drawn into the grid.
I wanted ”eine” for the number one, but see that I’ve had it wrong - I guess I don’t hear the terminal “s” because that is the opening sound of zwei.
I agree with Lewis about not diminishing Fridays and Saturdays (any more so than they already have).
I may have to go back and read Alice in Wonderland as an adult - it is put out there in front of children, for whom it is rather terrifying and plain strange. Perhaps there is some extra layer of meaning for adults? The poem quoted above is fun to say, but doesn’t seem to be dripping with meaning. As for making kids memorize stuff, I don’t agree with the current taboo on “rote” learning including multiplication and addition tables. Maybe with information always at our fingertips, it will go the way of cursive writing, but it really feels like something important is lost.
GOODNESS GRACIOUS, this was quite an interesting puzzle which might be a little challenging for some of the younger solvers. Definitely not so for me, just a couple of places where I got a little offkilter, and the theme BALLS actually helped. But if you know the song, the subject matter just naturally generates an energetic feeling and thoughts of a fun time at the bar.
I’m no youngster like RP but I don’t remember it at the time it first came out. I do recall my older sister swooning over Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis and others of that era, and my seven-years-younger self thinking how silly it all seemed. Lewis’ song was actually quite controversial at the time and some radio stations even refused to air it because many were shocked by the scandalous lyrics. But it turned out to be a fun puzzle theme which I enjoyed. Thanks Joseph, for a nice Wednesday solve.
Exactly my thought.
@burton - good one !
But that's how the letter is spelled. Is ESS any better?
Are, c’mon, the theme was a gimme for us oldsters and so much fun to remember the energy that song released. Simple brush strokes, good visual. I agree with @Gary that an ORCA got the other shoe, why not? And had same problem with uncertainty over the nail polish name preventing me from seeing CAPSOFF. And while I’m in such an agreeable mood, also agree with @Lewis on the degrees of difficulty for NYT puzzles, even if I have to Google to get a foothold or deal with mass trivia later in the week—I like the challenge to be there.
RP's parentheticals on the deaths of Jerry Lee Lewis's children and wives: (car, pool) and (drugs, pool), reminded me of Nabokov's on the accidental death of Lolita's mom: (picnic, lightning).
Have you ever wondered, what do SAFESEAT? If you're old enough to remember Jerry Lee Lewis you also can remember the more recent (but still ancient) Andy Rooney segments on 60 Minutes that always started with a "Did you ever wonder" question about something that no one ever wondered about.
Mrs. Egs always prefers SATINFOR her dresses.
I was pleasantly reminded of the words inscribed on the Hemingway Memorial in Sun Valley Idaho: BESTOFALL he loved the fall. It was actually written as part of a eulogy Hemingway delivered for a hunting buddy who had died in a terrible hunting accident, but people came to believe that the words were autobiographical. Everyone had CAPSOFF during the ceremony at the Ketchum Cemetery, about a half mile from the Memorial.
For those half-griping about SHOE, nothing in the clue suggests that both weren't left at the door. If a clue was in reference to @Liveprof's Utah Phillips
story and went [Neighbor's thing kicked by Idaho Blackie] would you wonder why the answer was ball? Would you wonder where the other ball was? Well I say, look at the f***ing grid. The answer is SCROTUM. But that's a whole 'nother puzzle.
@Lewis. I heartily endorse your plea to the powers-that-be at the NYT.
This puzzle was no GRIND. I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks, Joseph Gangi.
The walrus was Paul.
In the last year of my Dad's life, he took to saying "GOODNESS GRACIOUS, that's outrageous" whenever it seemed appropriate so 18A made me smile. And then, after the revealer, I smiled again to recognize the line that comes before GREAT BALLS OF FIRE. And without a cross-reference to 18A. Nice!
Not an easier than usual Wednesday for me. Thanks, Joseph Gangi!
Me too for "Ring of Fire," even though I had already got GOODNESS GRACIOUS and thought of the song immediately. But my mind was fixed on the idea that they were rings, and I needed the revealer.
@Lewis 7:33 AM
Easy big fellah. Somebody get a rope, Lewis is on a rampage. Love this. I've been doing lots of the puzzles from the archive, and because my skills have gotten much better, I've yet to find these mythical puzzles of yore. The old garbage might be a little more challenging than the new garbage, but it's because -- now get this -- the pop culture isn't pop anymore. They're not going to be able to clue OREO, OBOE, ORCA, or ONO in a way I need to mull, it's just easy now. But tennis phenom BLANK, Tony award winning BLANK, Obscuris Poetry Prize winner BLANK, Muldovan Nobel Laureate BLANK, or anything math and I am flummoxed on the old stuff the same as I would be today. Hardcore solvers have better venues than the NYTXW to get their buzz on, but that doesn't stop them from coming here to gripe. I suspect the Halcyon Days of the Legendary Perfect Puzzles is a myth.
Bad guy? I enjoy oysters myself, so it's hard to blame him.
Well, I never memorized the Owl and the Pussycat, but I've got W&C down cold. There's also an appropriate SHOE reference (though pluralized)
But four young oysters hurried up
All eager for the treat
Their clothes were brushed, their faces washed,
Their SHOEs were clean and neat.
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.
Same! You can actually find a free online pdf of the 1960 original with 1990 updates. I vividly remember finding the book in my elementary school library and reading it for a book report and thinking "stereochemistry sounds really interesting." (Talk about a rabbit hole . . after four years of grad school I did a complete pivot). And another rabbit hole ... googling all that.
Did anyone else immediately think of the Sesame Street cover, Great Balls of Fur??
The clue for 31-D, "what pants come in and shirts don't" could have replace pants with shoes, exce[t that it would have been a duplicate. Actually, I have bought shirts singly, or as a pair, or sometimes a triad--but never an OCTAD.
I don't quite get the clue for the "apple-like"ASIAN pear. They don't taste much like Bartlett pears, but they taste even less like apples. Or is it just the shape?
I liked CAPS OFF crossing put the icing on.
Wait! I ust noticed that this puzzle has two letteral clues, for CEE and ELS. That's one too many.
Dude -- please go read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass! They are essential works for understanding the world today. No joke.
Sentimental Value was my favorite movie of last year too! A perfect film.
Am I the younger generation? I was 9 when the movie came out, and that is unquestionably where I know the song best from. But I'm 48 now, and rarely feel young, so I'm honored to be thought of as such.
ELLE Fanning is also an absolute joy to watch in The Great, a horrifically gory and hilarious Hulu show depicting the story of Catherine the Great (not super accurately, I assume). Highly recommend!
Because I read this blog I notice things like 13 and 14 down. One has “up” in the answer one has “up” in the clue. Right next to each other no less.
A one legged man
As someone who has worked on election campaigns professionally for 30+ years, 45A absolutely eluded me until the end - glad OFL called out this bad clue.
be careful what you wish for
“Don't make me break out a Swift counter.” 🤣
Reminiscent of the FROOT LOOPS puzzle by David Steinberg (January 2, 2013).
Rex you were born my junior year at Harpur College! What is this Binghamton University thing?
Easy. I put in WALRUS and just kept going. The SE was the toughest section for me…FROSTS and FORMAL took some crosses.
No erasures.
I knew LORDE but I did not know the album.
Clever, fun, breezy, liked it.
Let me strongly second that recommendation!
First rock concert I ever attended was headlined by Jerry Lee Lewis - totally amazing! Gene Vincent closed the first half. I'll never forget it! Liveprof, thanks for the shout out to Nabokov. And Jberg, two letteral clues isn't one too many, it's two! I'm with OFL on that one.
i couldn't pass up an opportunity to remark on this puzzle. after seeing my alternate name lead off the puzzle, it was a quickly downhill once IMUP appeared next to the clue "come clean, with 'up'". having gps as a clue and GPA as an answer was also clunky. how do REFS "call plays"? officiate? definitely. oversee? sure. call, however, is lazy, poor verbiage. is anyone actually editing over at the nyt these days?
non-puzzle related: getting lowercase "walrus" stitched on a knit beanie at disneyland required convincing the clerk there was no ulterior meaning other than as a pseudonym, but it was worth it.
Well, this one was kind of fun. I entered GOODNESS GRACIOUS and said to myself, “That’s just toooo old timey not to be funny. Nobody since the last of my great aunts died has said GOODNESS GRACIOUS to me”. Wondered what the constructor would use for the bottom spanner that could match it and wasn’t disappointed. And, of course, there were GREAT BALLS OF FIRE. Sort of.
The longer downs weren’t quite as spectacular, but they were certainly serviceable and there weren’t a lot of proper names. AMOS, SOFIA, and LORDE? OK by me. Oh yeah, ELLE.
No complaints. (Well, maybe the singular SHOE at 7A). A solid Wednesday. Thanks Joseph Gangi.
😂
Agree it's extremely odd to leave one shoe at the door.
Wow. No one seems bothered by JLL being represented in this puzzle. Especially now??? This is a man who married his 13yo cousin. She had his baby at 14. It’s so gross.
This was a fine Wednesday puzzle, very nicely structured, with some fun answers: GOODNESS GRACIOUS, YOU LOST ME, and (BEST OF ALL), GREAT BALLS OF FIRE. Rex's complaint about the circles not clearly representing balls of fire DEFIES understanding.
My only criticism is that both the answer SAFE SEAT and its clue made me frown. Otherwise, thanks for the experience, Mr. Gangi!
ELS is also in this puzzle. And ESS is often in puzzles. Other letters, too--it's not unusual.
That one shoe you leave at the door. Once inside and seated, you let the other shoe drop. Easy.
Of all things to be stuck on- CAPS OFF.
Jerry Lee Lewis was before my time although I did see his story on TV re: marrying his teenage cousin & the abuse. Pretty gross.
I have to say that I agree with Lewis (although I complain sometimes when the puzzle is too hard) & thank you, Lewis for your comment to the NYT 'team.' If there's any one they should listen to its our "Doppelganger" as well as Rex, of course :)
Thank you, Joseph :)
It's the shape. They look like apples.
It was also featured in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick”.
Great comment from our Doppelgänger, Lewis & greatly appreciated. Hope the NYT team is reading this.
Took me longer than perhaps it should have to "light" the first fire, but after that the circles made the solve easier. Like Rex, I found the execution a bit underwhelming; I thought perhaps the revealer clue/answer might be "Weird Al's parody song," "Bland Circles of Fire."
Agree with Rex about Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value. That was a tough part to play. Great film. Terrific ending, a wink and a nod to how hard it is to make any movie, let alone a good one.
As the Hidden Diagonal Word-aholic around here, I feel obligated to inform you of a Hidden Diagonal ROO in the grid (NW sector, off the R in Walrus). I'll let you and Pablo work out the scoring. :-)
Also love The Great! Of course, it's subtitle ("An Occasionally True Story") tips one off that the series departs "greatly" from the actual historical details. Nicholas Hoult is also wonderful as Peter (the not so great).
I'm chagrined to reveal that after GOODNESS GRACIOUS, I thought "...sakes alive" instead of GREAT BALLS OF FIRE, having experienced Jerry Lee Lewis in my impressionable tween years, torn between thrills and terror. I still remember exactly where I was on Main St. when my friend Nancy told me that he'd married his 13-year-old cousin. Thank you to @Lewis 7:32 for his "great" balls defense. Otherwise,,,I nodded at SHOE over YOU LOST ME, which sadly describes the state of my closet. STORAGE issues.
Do-overs: Anjou before ASIAN, Moor before MIRE. EgEsTS.
Hmmm, last night I didn't even notice that GOODNESS GRACIOUS is in the song right before the revealer! Not paying attention obviously.
Across Lite didn't have the circles so I took a minute to make a screenshot of the NYT web page grid to refer to. It wasn't really worth the trouble.
And Rex, you are totally correct to object to the silly clue for OUR. It really bugs me when they do that. And there are 3 other fill in the blank clues; the only decent one was for WALRUS.
Not too many names today, and all known: AMOS, SOFIA, LORDE, ELLE. A nice break from the gunk.
They definitely were great balls of fire. The size of the circles - how could you quibble?
Never read Alice in Wonderland? And you a lit teacher?
I'm definitely of an age to remember Great Balls of Fire. Did
not, however, remember any of the stuff about Lewis's life.
@Anon 10:04AM: not immediately, but I certainly did. Just watched the new Muppet Show special and the magic of Jim Henson’a continuing legacy cheered me up!
@Gary J, you had me at Bubble Boy! But ASIAN BOT AFRO? 🔥
I kept thinking ring too, and found that Timothy Polin did a Ring Of Fire theme in a Thursday puzzle, November 28, 2019.
Sorry Lewis - I knew it was "DOPPLE" something .....
I had octet, octal, then octad. Yuck. Safe seat clue is way off, you know if the seat is safe as soon as it is drawn. Liked Elle Fanning in the movie Super 8.
A great scene - it makes you so happy when they are wailing away at the piano in the bar - Goose and his wife and son and Maverick and Kelly McGillis - but then the movie cruelly kills Goose off. I always skip that part.
SHOE could have been clued along the lines of "Item for a farrier".
I also thought of "Ring of Fire" for the reveal. Here's The Man in Black singing it. (Complete with 60s low res TV quality.)
The taste of love is sweet
When hearts like ours meet
I fell for you like a child
Oh, but the fire went wild
@ Gary Jugert: not the first time you griped about other people griping.
Number of days without a Star Wars reference: 1
Adrienne
I am 73 and 48 is definitely young to me!
Roo
When I did the puzzle, I immediately thought of you. All those F’s. I was sure you would mention it and you did.
@Gary - I’m not sure what you mean by “mythical” or “Legendary Perfect Puzzles” but I have done all the NYT Friday and Saturday puzzles from Dec. 1993 to date (and I am currently working my way through the Sundays). My experience and stats confirm that those puzzles have recently gotten significantly easier which is what I think @Lewis seems to be lamenting. I don’t think he is calling for a return to mythical Halcyon Days what ever that means, I believe he is just asking that the later week puzzles be as tough as they to be, and to that I say AMEN!!!
If you would like to sample a tough puzzle try any Sunday from early 1994.
Anonymous. 11:35 am
Represented? Is there an attorney present? JLL’s name doesn’t even appear in the puzzle.( I wouldn’t have any objection to his name appearing actually) So just by having his most famous song as an answer the puzzle is endorsing his egregious actions? That makes no sense. Commenters have mentioned them. which is appropriate.
Okanaganer
I appreciate the correction You were just listing the too many proper nouns in that puzzle.
There are already enough Roo's in these things without help from others, @Tom T, so I'm saying no points here.
Rex’s rant on the graphics was a little odd as many have noted. The circles seem fine by me.
I was only five when the song came out.and I knew nothing about it then. But later on I got to know the song and then eventually the sordid story that immediately followed Regardless, it is an amazing song
Interestingly, in modern lingo, Jerry Lee Lewis was only cancelled for a few years. Even when he could no longer make rock records, he continued to tour successfully. Then he switched to country music in the mid to late sixties and became very successful at that. For decades in fact. But these hits were only played on country stations so for many Americans he disappeared. So in that sense I guess there was a partial canceling. He died 3 years ago last Fall.
the circles 'balls' are drawn into the puzzle I don't get the resistance is that an unwritten rule no drawing in circles within the square - the clues are fun as is the revealer nice sassy rock n roll puzzle
It struck me as in poor taste to have 2-Down's AMOS clued to the radio program done in blackface (particularly during Black History Month), especially when "Famous cookie baker Wally" would have been a decent clue for a Wednesday.
@dgd... yesterday? Exactly; although I kinda worded it weird.
Agree! The Great is....GREAT!
I also immediately thought of @Roo with all those Fs!
50's Rock is before my time but very familiar with this classic. However, as I was making my first pass with very little filled in, I read the revealer clue at 57A - Classic rock/circles - and immediately started to fill in the incorrect Rockaroundtheclock - I was so proud of myself until I realized that I would run out of squares at about the "u" in around... After that, it was a fairly easy, fun solve.
I enjoyed the grid art and thought it very, very cool that one spanner was the revealer and the other completed the classic line of the tune. I know @Rex said it was lucky but still, gotta respect the architecture here.
The OCTAD over octet situation held me up for a few, I kept holding on to octet and it took me way too long to get DOGBREED to solidify the "d" I needed.
I also thought the other, non-theme, long ones were grade A.
Good stuff Joseph, I had fun. Thank you!
You can draw any shape on the grid. It’s arbitrary and not part of the actual architecture of the puzzle. Simply drawing circles on the grid doesn’t make those squares “balls”; it’s strange that you don’t understand that.
You can draw whatever you want, those fires are never going to be “balls”
Count me in among those hoping that @Rex will read Lewis Carroll - soon. Both Alice and The Walrus are every bit as good as Beowulf, and just as relevant in their own way.
And, oh Revered Leader, I’d wager that there are just as many Beowulf as Lewis Carroll crossword references. Because of all that trivia and those crossword references, I knew more tidbits from those books than anyone in my classes when I was finally old enough to “study” them.
I saw Disney’s 1951 “Alice” in a 1958 or 9 re-release in theaters and immediately started to read it - for the first time. I moved on to “Through the Looking Glass, where we meet Jabberwock. Carroll originally published that poem as “A Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry.” Gran could recite the whole thing and I shall never forget it was through her and Jabberwocky (when I was about 8 or 9) that I first heard about Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon/Middle English. I ask you, dear Leader, how can cruciverbalist-scholars fail to appreciate a clever work (Jabberwocky) that gave us the fabulous word, galumphing - and others.
As for whether younger folks will recognize “Great Balls of Fire,” really? Who hasn’t seen “Top Gun? Of course many have not seen it, but I’d bet the farm more have than haven’t- at least in the US. And typically, American blockbusters are shown in at least 30 countries.
That said, and although the puzzle was easy, I thoroughly enjoyed it. OFL gave me a good laugh (on several levels 😬) with the “great balls sandwich” metaphor. That’s exactly what Joseph Gangi delivered. And, for the first tome in over 60 years of solving, I actually hoped for grid art! Nay, not hoped, I was certain those circles were going to turn into something like 🔥 when it was happy music time (Hi @GaryJ!).
Good fun today!
Anonymous 8:50 pm
Close enough for crosswords.
Reference to the circles was in response to Rex saying he saw squares, making the circles irrelevant
What I see is a two dimensional puzzle. In which circles are drawn with f i r e appearing in each circle. So his comment made no sense to me. I wouldn’t say it’s strange you don’t understand that, because it would be insulting. Of course there is no balls of fire appearing in the newspaper. For a long time the Times has chosen to add gimmicks like this to vary the puzzles. At least in the newspaper or a printout this is as close as they could get to represent the gimmick. Apparently people are criticizing the lack of a work of art. Close enough for crosswords in my opinion.
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