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Relative difficulty: Medium, maybe a little tougher than that (***for a Tuesday***)
 |
| [43D: Kylo ___, "Star Wars" antagonist] |
Theme answers:
- POKER PLAYER (17A: Certain casino regular)
- PALM READER (25A: Psychic who examines lifelines and heart lines)
- MRS. POTATO HEAD (37A: "Toy Story 2" character who says "I'm packing you an extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes, just in case")
- CLAP-O-METER (50A: Device measuring audience approval)
John Angus McPhee (born March 8, 1931) is an American author. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourth occasion in 1999 for Annals of the Former World (a collection of five books, including two of his previous Pulitzer finalists).\ In 2008, he received the George Polk Career Award for his "indelible mark on American journalism during his nearly half-century career".[2] Since 1974, McPhee has been the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. (wikipedia) // Coming into the Country is a 1976 book by John McPhee about Alaska and McPhee's travels through much of the state with bush pilots, prospectors, and settlers, as well as politicians and businesspeople who each interpret the state in different ways. // One of his most widely read books, Coming into the Country is divided into three sections, "At the Northern Tree Line: The Encircled River," "In Urban Alaska: What They Were Hunting For," and "In the Bush: Coming into the Country". // Like all of McPhee's books, Coming into the Country started out as an outline that he proceeded to fill in. It is McPhee's best-selling book. // After the publication of Coming into the Country, The New York Times called McPhee "the most versatile journalist in America". (wikipedia)
• • •
[I have no idea what is happening here (I've never watched an episode of Coronation Street in my life) but someone asks "What's a CLAP-O-METER?" so it seemed appropriate]
 |
[Never heard of CLAP-O-METER before—this is what I thought the device was called] |
The fill had a decidedly feminine bias, which I noticed and appreciated. MAKEOVERs and MAMA and DARA Torres (40D: Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals) and Margaret Mead (11D: Margaret Mead's subject, informally) and Taylor Swift (14D: Reputation or Lover, to a Swiftie = ERA) and Billie EILISH (21A: First Oscar winner to be born in the 21st century (for Best Original Song)) and MRS POTATO HEAD—a real LADIES NIGHT here at [checks clock] 5:03am. Does MRS. POTATO HEAD come with a Birkin bag? (48D: Birkin bag maker = HERMÉS). Think about it, Hasbro. You can have that idea for free [HASBRO ... haven't seen that in the puzzle in five years ... saw WHAM-O just last week ... sorry, toy company name digression, back to the puzzle]. Even though I don't love the grid choppiness or much of the short fill, I actually think the overall fill is somewhat more interesting than you typically get on a Tuesday. Longer Downs are plentiful and decent (MAKEOVER, GETS IN SHAPE, LAVA PIT, LADIES NIGHT, ABOVE ALL), and if the puzzle runs a little trivia-heavy, a little proper noun-heavy, it does have a lot of personality.
Bullets:
- 44A: "Don't Tell ___" ("Cabaret" song) ("MAMA) — one of the answers that made this one tougher (than usual) for me. If you want to hide MAMA from me, put it in a song I've never heard of. You could've told me literally anything went in that four-letter space and I would've believed you. "Don't Tell A LIE," "Don't Tell ME NO," "Don't Tell FRED," sure, those all sound good.
- 68A: Program for expedited travel between the U.S. and Canada (NEXUS) — glad I never saw this clue because yikes, what? I live not that far from Canada and I've never heard of this. Is this a widely known thing? NEXUS? I can tell you that NEXUS has appeared 49 times in NYTXW history (24 times in the Modern Era, 16 times since I started this blog), and this is the first time it's been clued this way. On a Tuesday? OK, like I said, I never saw the clue, so the "difficulty" was lost on me. Weirdly, I never saw the clue on the first three themers today either. Strange. There was just so much short stuff to work that every time I looked up, another themer was filled in enough for me to guess it.
["Canada, oh Canada"]
- 4D: Song suitable for a slow dance (BALLAD) — I wrote in BALLET. I kinda know why ("dance") but still, really bad reflex there.
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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ReplyDeleteEasy Tuesday, solved without reading the clues for the long answers.
* * * _ _
One overwrite, POwER PLAYER before POKER.
WOEs:
DATA Torres (40D)
John MCPHEE (44D)
What do you call it... getting up on the wrong side of the bed? Starting off on the wrong foot? That's what happened to OFL today. I, on the other hand, was right on this puzzle's wave length--Saw the VIM/VIP pair pretty quicked, so got a great start, dropped in POKER... thought it was going to be a "starts with P, ends with ER" theme cuz those first 2 both fit that pattern. But then.... MRSPOTATOHEAD changed all that. Then I had to wait for the (awesome) revealer to let me know we were talking about HANDS! 7:53 for me today, which I think is easy-medium for a Tuesday. There's also a sound to this puzzle, it rhymes! We've got NAENAE, NEE, LAY. Oh well, I thought there were more. Nice long downs, fun puzzle, thanks, Sarah and Amie, for a fun puzzle. If Rex's puzzle had a CLAPOMETER you'd be right up there from me!!!! : )
ReplyDeleteWhile the puzzle continues to call that bakery/sandwich place by a name not recognized in the STL, PANERA*; the puzzle is saved from a St Louis culinary point of view with a shout-out to our local pizza place, IMO(s)! If you haven’t had St Louis style pizza, you don’t know what you’re missing!!
ReplyDelete(*it’s called St Louis Bread Company here)
I refuse to enter the other word and just put in breadco with the co a rebus. Streak or no streak
DeleteHi there @Anon 6:55AM!! I’m so glad you dropped in if only to mention IMO’s and the indubitably iconic St. Louis style pizza. For me it’s the Provel cheese. We used to travel from Norman, Oklahoma to Normal, IL to visit my aging parents. We often stayed overnight in St. Louis for two reasons: 1. White Castles and 2. IMO’s pizza. I grew up in Ohio where cracker-thin pizza cut in squares and White Castles (at 5 cents each!) were my fondest childhood food memories. St. Louis pizza is as close as I ever got to the experience and I always took at least 5 pounds of Provel home with me! Hope you stick around; this is a really good group of people.
DeleteA quick downs-mostly solve today. I’m with Rex: I’ve lived half of my long life in states bordering Canada and have never heard of this NEXUS thing. Is it something more Canadians are familiar with?
ReplyDeleteMedium for a Tuesday, I agree. I counted 25 "terrible threes" among 74 entries. More than a third. Seems like a lot. Perhaps this helps quantify the choppiness Rex reported.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the content seemed quite decent. Few initialisms (NIH, HSN), and I saw only one POC ("plural of convenience"). The theme was pretty good. Channeling Rex for a moment, the theme entries can all be construed as a "ME" (i.e., they are characters who might call for a HAND), except for CLAP-O-METER, which is a slight drawback perhaps, although I only noticed that post-solve.
Yes, it does seem feminine-forward. As part of her New Year's resolutions, our imagined woman GETS INTO SHAPE and gets a MAKEOVER, and accessorizes her new look with a new HERMES bag. Off she heads to LADIES' NIGHT to meet her girl friends, who tell her how great she looks. In spirit, they GIVE [her] A HAND, i.e., they applaud her efforts.
Okay, that's it for now. See you around.
Actually 26 three-letter words; yikes.
DeleteLiked MRS POTATO HEAD more than CLAP O METER. Is it even a thing? Yes, Clap-O-Meter has a Wikipedia entry, which is corroboration for me.
Also enjoyed the female slant, and appreciate it being pointed out.
The Mrs. Potato Head clue uses one of the best lines from one of the best movies, there by winning my heart. ❤️
ReplyDeleteI went to university with John MCPHEEs stepson, although we have lost touch over the years. He was extremely interested in Chilean politics and economic policy.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the record is for longest clue? The clue for MRS POTATO HEAD has to be a candidate.
Near the end of my first pass, I thought what I often think when my answers arrive sluggishly: should have {finished my coffee first,taken a shower, had something to eat} first. Or how about wait until there's sunlight and stuff? I never learn. In this case, however, I realized soon enough that I was plenty alert and that the real problem was a natural inability to effectively commune with the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI side-eye my inner rationalizer whenever OFL seems to have the same complaint because just as often I come here and discover that Rex was so unimpressed with the difficulty that he Jedi mind-solved it. Just yawned superciliously and waved his hand, intoned, "this puzzle is complete" just loud enough for his cats to hear him.
So I don't know.... Bah. II'll go with my inner-rationalizer today. Rex knows the score here, people, bad grid juju all the way. No other way to explain it.
ABOVE ALL - a real trivia fest. Agree with the big guy on the choppy nature of the grid. This trended towards a themeless event in the end.
ReplyDeletelink text">North to ALASKA
Loaded with short stuff and some awkward propers. Most of the starting corner should have been edited better - can kick off with VIM x VIP, IMO and ERA so close.
Burrito Brothers
I liked MRS POTATO HEAD x LADIES NIGHT. I know a lot of people who go to the gym regularly who definitely are not IN SHAPE. HSN, NIH, DAE and others are just brutal. EILISH is temporal at least.
LAY of the Sunflower
Not a lot of Tuesday morning fun solving this one.
DIVIDE and Conquer
I put in (without crosses) lendMEAHAND, and think this is the more usual phrase, but GIVEMEAHAND became clear as I solved. Maybe lendMEAHAND is a little more old-fashioned?
ReplyDeleteLoved the Toy Story quote from MRSPOTATOHEAD!
Nice to:
ReplyDelete• See LEG, EAR, and even CAN supporting the HAND theme, plus wannabe NEE in search of a K.
• Have my brain engaged trying to come up with what the three theme answers had in common (with success!).
• Have silliness in the grid (Hi, @M. Biggen!). First, MRS POTATO HEAD, who makes me smile inside-out. Second, FLAM, which by itself is fun to say and just looks goofy. Third and most-of-all, thumbs up for CLAP-O-METER! That's like something concocted by Jon Stewart for a bit.
• Be reminded of John McPhee – sensitive, insightful, and master of language and mood. (Hi, @Marshall Walthew!)
• Come across the PuzzPair©️ of SNORE and NOD.
And so, Sarah and Amie, your puzzle was not simply fill-in-and-get-on-with-the-day. It had charm and personality. Thank you for making it!
For those here, and you know who you are, who are not fans of "terrible threes" -- in case you haven't counted, there are a very high 26.
ReplyDeleteI grew up a couple hours’ drive from the Canadian border and have known about Nexus for years. Easy puzzle. I also noticed the plethora of AEs.
ReplyDeleteCould someone give me a hand - how does Mrs. Potato Head relate to the reveal?
ReplyDeleteSome of the pieces that one would use to build a Mr or Mrs Potato Head are arms and hands.
DeleteThank you. I wondered that myself.
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteSeems like the last two Themers are syntaxedly off. (As is syntaxedly. Har) Sure, MRS POTATO HEAD could either ask that question, or offer a HAND to Mr. POTATO HEAD. That's lawyerable. But CLAPOMETER measures a hand (round of applause). It doesn't GIVE A HAND. My two cents.
DANCE PARTNER might work. MOUNTAIN CLIMBER, maybe?
Fun to think about MAINE being the only one syllable state name. Also, surprised at Billie EILISH fact. Thought it would've been either Arianna Grande or Taylor Swift.
Issa and Daniel dance? The RAE DAE NAENAE. (Too easy?)
Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Roo
DeleteThe winner had to be born in 21st Century and both Adele and Grande are too old for that so Eilish.
FWIW I noticed the repeated ay sounds but I only notice the obvious.
@Roo - thank you so much for your kind words on the Haiku - I'll be putting them out every Monday :o)
DeleteAs someone who enters Canada once or twice a year (driving), I am quite familiar with the Nexus lanes, and often envious of the shorter lines in them. I also mentally conflate them with Lexus lanes, the colloquial name for the high-priced toll lanes, especially in the DC area.
ReplyDeleteI was unaware of the Nexus lanes. What a good idea.
DeleteI wonder how Rex managed to find that clip of the group discussing their lack of a CLAP-O-METER. They all sounded so cute and proper (is “clap-ommeter” the correct way to pronounce it?).
ReplyDeleteI’m sure I received my first Mr POTATO HEAD about 60 years ago. I probably played with it for longer than one would imagine it merited. Are they still available these days? I would think with all of the technology and electronics around they would be a hard sell. Sort of like you don’t see many pickup baseball games (or even kids playing whiffle ball) anymore.
I blew through this one so fast that it was over before I even thought about trying to guess the reveal. I think the choppy grid and some of the rough spots that OFL mentioned may have actually been a saving grace, as they made it a little more challenging.
When I was young we used a real potato to stick in the appendages!
DeleteI’ll be a curmudgeon but Toy Story and Star Wars belong in the Highlights magazine crossword. Children’s answers for children’s puzzles.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr Potato Head
DeleteAnonymous 8:22 AM
DeleteThe degree of difficulty goes up if you haven’t seen the movies. I haven’t seen Toy Story of any Star Wars movie after the first 3. . Clues about children’s literature are very common in the Times puzzle and I don’t think these 2 are any less appropriate. I didn’t know the quote till I did the puzzle and I thought it was a perfect reveal. To me nothing Highlights about it.
Criticizing another over used Star Wars clue is another question!
I never prefer when the puzzle uses a proper noun clue for a word. For example, EDU being associated with Facebook. It feels like free advertising, when there is zero need to mention a foul company that is heavily responsible for the election of Donald Trump. I prefer the porn(o) clues to the corporate clues, honestly. (American Eagle for AERIE, Domino's for PIP, Birkin Bag HERMES, Snoopy/Scooby Doo DOG, and to a lesser extent Phantom of the Opera for ORGAN) And when the answers require corporate references, this seems like too much (Panera, venti) corporate-speak by choice.
ReplyDelete100% agree.
Deletefound this one to be rather easy. loved the mrs potatohead clue/answer
ReplyDeleteI loved the tribute song to Catherine Ohara by Noah Reid. I don't recall seeing him on Schitts Creek. I enjoyed the puzzle and was a little stuck on Ladies night and disbar. Thought the theme was clever and appreciated the female perspective. I certainly would give the puzzle a hand of applause. Started off Tuesday on a good footing.
ReplyDeleteNoah Reid played Daniel Levy’s husband. Lovely tribute to Catherine O’Hara.
DeleteI'm Canadian but have lived stateside for 11 years. Everyone in Canada knows Nexus but thats probably because Canadians tend to visit America a lot more than the reverse. I enjoyed the puzzle!
ReplyDeleteseeing John Mcphee mentioned here made me smile , loved every one of his books. A master of literary non-fiction. And the Mrs potato head line made me laugh. Good way to start the day.
ReplyDeletePodría necesitar algo de ayuda aquí.
ReplyDeleteLet us pause, stare into the void, and wonder at the specter of 55% gunk. An astonishing achievement rarely attempted. Don't stand too close. It's a wormhole that'll suck you into a dimension where every word is an abbreviation of a Tweet.
I do like MRS. POTATO HEAD in theory. I don't like anything else in the puzzle, other than BILLIE EILISH (and I only like her Barbie song) and AERIE (my eighth favorite word ... but here it's being commercialized by a brand famous for winking at white supremacy just last year).
A couple weeks ago a haircut and clothes led to gender euphoria and today it's just a lowly MAKEOVER. A couple more weeks and it'll be a trim and a clean t-shirt for NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE.
People: 12 {grr}
Places: 5
Products: 13 {gawd}
Partials: 9
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 41 of 74 (55%) {In Gunkopolis on the outskirts of Gunkmenistan a Bad Bunny tribute band Grid Gunk Goat is practicing a song in the garage called All You Need is Gunk, but instead of singing in Spanish, the lyrics are entirely made of people and products. They're very popular there.}
Funny Factor: 1 🤨
Uniclues:
1 One assuring the VIP yet another yacht is in the future.
2 Mountains of soup and salad.
3 The way of the beautician.
1 CFOS PALM READER
2 PANERA RANGE
3 MAKEOVER MANNER
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Line from a weight loss awards speech. GLAD I ASKED SLIM.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
55%? Yikes! You need to start a gunk Hall of Fame or something to (dis)honor anything ABOVE 50%.
DeleteA person’s name is not necessarily “gunk.” This is one of the great deficiencies of the gunk gauge. I’m sure it played well with this audience, which seems to hate pop culture names reflexively, but filing any name under “gunk” seems wrongheaded and not representative of how people actually experience names. The worst gunk (EKE eg) isn’t even accounted for by your categories. A “place” is “gunk?” Do you really experience every place name as “gunk”? I’m supposed to believe ALASKA and MAINE are “gunk?” A terribly narrow way to look at puzzles.
Delete@anon 10:03. I don’t believe the corporate sponsors of the Gunk-O-Meter (they don’t advertise much, so I don’t know if it’s pronounced “Gunk-OH-Meter” or “Gunk-OMMeter”) have ever claimed perfection. It is however a reliable indicator of the extent to which Will is embracing and blessing the plethora or proper names, popular culture and other items that so many of us love to hate. Additionally, it serves the additional useful function of motivating Grid Gunk Goat to try to perfect his song in the hope of landing a gig as the opening act for the Funky Gunkers on their upcoming tour. Of course, you are welcome to continue to discount it as you see fit.
Delete@Johnny: I’m snickering helplessly. 🤭😆🤣
DeleteRex has his ratings system and Gary, as a subcontractor, has his. Knowing there were 26 three-letter words, I was anticipating sirens and flashing lights on the Gunk-OH-Meter; wasn't disappointed.
DeleteI acknowledge that what you count as gunk sometimes makes for a bad puzzle. But this one had a fresh theme and some fun and welcome answers, so it didn't feel gunky to me. I think that for me, gunk doesn't always equal junk.
DeleteThank you all for the laughs here. I did check with the corporate sponsor of the Gunk-o-meter, The Gunkenstein Foundation, and they believe the Gunk Gauge is the single gunkiest report on the nightly news in Los Gunk, Sao Gunk, New Gunk, and of course, Turkgunkistan. They also indicated Anonymous commenters who loath the gunk report are, ironically, gunk.
Delete@GJ, when I read all the posts and replies in the wee hours this morning, I so hoped you would reply with some critical background information 🤣
DeleteNew Yorker cartoon during the pandemic. Two potatoes meet on the street. They have little hands and feet and faces. The woman potato is wearing a Covid mask. The man potato says to her: You don't have to wear a mask, Martha: you're a potato.
ReplyDeleteSome alternate clues:
For (PANERA): Give a negative review to Taylor's recent tour.
For (DISBAR): Not datbar.
For 69A (LEG): Section of a chicken or a journey
Despite the reliance on trivia including the NAE family, this went relatively fast for me until I hit the SW and MCPHEE. Have eaten at a PANERA but didn’t recognize it from the clue. Anyway, liked the puzzle overall and filled in MRSP…from just the MR-P, so felt good about getting that and the other long answers that were very much in the language.
ReplyDeleteI think there was a typo in the 68A clue. The program for expedited travel between the U.S. and Canada is now anNEXUS.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the CLAPOMETER a venereal disease tester?
I'm not sure any AD is suitable for a slow dance, much less a BALL AD.
Kinda cool to see EAR and LEG hanging out in a HAND puzzle.
@Southside Johnny. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (or Potatoe Head to Dan Quayle) still exist, but are now sold with plastic bodies that look somewhat spuddish. The body has holes where you can insert appendages. My granddaughter went through a pretty enthusiast iastic MPH stage around age 4.
I've gotta HAND it to you, Sarah Sinclair and Amie Walker, I enjoyed the theme.
At first, I thought what is a Friday puzzle doing on a Tuesday.Slowly but surely, I solved it with no mistakes.Yet, I don’t know why I still didn’t like it.🤔🤔
ReplyDeleteDid not like the doubling of DISBAR and ABA (American Bar Association).
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 9:58 AM
DeleteFWIW Shortz has long since got rid of and rules against dupes. Because of this, Rex only complains about them when they are “ egregious “ his word. Like 4 ups in one puzzle. - bar only part of the word is not visually duplicated. Personally it doesn’t bother me in the least. But no one could call this one egregious
Good day for learning stuff--EILISH, CLAPOMETER (still unsold on that one) and a better day or DKAC's (Didn't Know As Clued). These were AERIE, VOX, HERMES, EDU, and MAMA, and I may have missed some.
ReplyDeleteAnother revealer I didn't see coming, but it was spot on. Nice one.
Did notice all the AE stuff. Weird.
Nice enough Tuesday, SS and AW. Liked the themers and the revealer, the Short Stuff was All Wet, sorry. Thanks for a decent amount of fun.
As a Canadian, I sadly didn't know John MCPHEE (especially as clued), there isn't a Panera in any western province and I never remember what QVC is so that corner was a WOE for me. On the other hand, NEXUS was a given.
ReplyDeleteI seldom do a Tuesday but decided it would go nicely with watching the Olympics last night. The difficulty level certainly was no distraction although I did wonder about MRS. POTATO HEAD. It’s been a while and I barely even remember the Mr. version of it. A very cute theme, and I liked that the LADIES were in the spotlight. I didn’t even notice the number of three-letter entries, but the names! My goodness. I’ve often wished there was a limit on the number of proper names in one puzzle and this one, with 25+, would be a good example for it.
ReplyDeleteWhatsername
DeleteI think Z only included people products & places in his ppp %. But that would be 40%. Which was rarely reached. Agree a bit over the top in that category. But loved the revealer.
I had a somewhat disjointed solve today, interrupted by pulling my bread out of the oven. So my time doesn't reflect my solve time and I'm left wondering if it was harder than average or not. (No, I'm not wasting a lot of time on this.)
ReplyDeleteBut I must have really been rushing towards the end because when I read Rex's comment about NEXUS being between the U.S. and Canada, I had to go back and read the clue. I had seen the C and thought it was China, so much so that I had time to wonder if that was the program my friend's daughter was in when she got to visit China. Sheesh.
Because I was running around while solving, I didn't take the time to think about the theme answers as they filled in. So when I saw the revealer and went back post-solve, I was quite pleased with the whole thing.
Sarah and Amie, nice job on a Tuesday puzzle!
We’ll now you made me want to get my bread machine out. Just what I needed after the holidays. But I haven’t had homemade bread in years, so it might be worth it.
DeleteI have a CD PLAYER and an e-book READER, so for a while I thought we had a second-words-are-electronic-devices theme, (And just btw, I used the END key twice in entering that sentence.) But it didn't work with MRS. POTATO HEAD, and it was only when I came here and looked at the completed puzzle up top that I realized what was going on.
ReplyDeleteBut the most fun part was having a moment of confusion and putting in Ciardi instead of MCPHEE. The former had a column in the Saturday Review, and the clue didn't say "nature writer," which would have tipped it off.
I've never heard of ST LEO University, but its mascot gave it away.
The most embarrassing part was that I knew the Starbucks answer was VENTI.
I figured the puzzle wanted me to name the program where you go through US clearance in Canadian airports, so you can just walk off the plane when you land in the US. I've used that a couple times but never knew what it was called. Not NEXUS, I guess.
I did like the VIM/VIP cross, as well as having both VIM and FLIM in the grid.
Also, the clue for EAR could have ended after "Body part," any part can have a ring or a stud.
ReplyDeleteJberg
DeleteAbout body parts and rings, how true!
Medium. No costly erasures but I did not know MCPHEE & ALASKA, ST LEO, MAMA, EDU, NEXUS, and CLAPOMETER.
ReplyDeleteWorkman like theme, not much junk, a couple of nice long downs, liked it.
You’ve never heard of Alaska?
DeleteI never heard of Alaska as clued.
DeleteSomehow I missed seeing the blemishes (choppy grid, three-letter-word overload, corporate quasi-advertising, too many names) for the fine array of HANDs, whether helping, clapping, revealing the future, winning card games, or making up a body. CLAPOMETER and MRS POTATO HEAD made me laugh. I thought it was great that "she" got center stage, and liked the cross with MAKEOVER as well as LADIES NIGHT. Fun Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteI agree!
DeleteEnjoyed being reminded of Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s early masterpiece (54A) “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” (1962) which I read and Tolstoy’s Ivan Ilyych, which I never did.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed being reminded of Solzhenitsyn. I read Denisovich in the clue and immediately typed in IVAN. I've never read the book but I have images in my head of Ivan in the Gulag. Somehow I thought these images were planted by a stage play (I don't think it was ever a stage play but, because I was a theatre student then, I think everything occurred on a stage.) A little research leads me to believe these images were from the 1970 film with Tom Courtenay
DeleteAE AE AE AE AE!
ReplyDeleteDon't let the Orange Menace find out about NEXUS or he'll shut it down.
ReplyDeleteI was finding this harder than last Saturday to get a grip on and to enjoy. The theme made it worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteI came here after I finished the puzzle & I was surprised at the difficulty rating - Medium, maybe a little tougher." Not at all tough for me & I liked it a lot. Just goes to show ya.
ReplyDeleteThank you, LADIES :)
I’m still a NOOB/NEWB to crosswords, but my reckoning this felt particularly challenging for a Tuesday. Some of that had to do with my own mistakes (e.g. guessing the spelling as CLAP A METER, dumbly, which had me wondering what kind of weird instrument began ARGO_), but that center S was a beast for me: my error combined with NEXUS (as clued) and HERMES (as clued) with an abbreviation above (forgetting NIH is also on me). Didn’t much like MCPHEE crossing HSN, or BALSA and AERIE (as clued) with EILISH beneath either, but I worked them out. I agree that the various kinds of gunk made the solve unpleasant.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I found the theme delightful—mostly great answers on their own, and fun ways of reimagining the revealer with different kinds of hands. Theme-wise, it felt exemplary and dead-on for Tuesday. So overall I was grinding out answers miserably in the solve, and finished with a tinge of surprised joy as I watched the theme come together. A bit bipolar of an experience—I guess that rounds out to average, as Rex’s star-rating gave it.
Average is a good way to describe my experience too. I loved the theme and the feminine bent to the grid. I just wish it had been done without so many proper names. While it does add a level of difficulty, the unpleasant trade-off is frustration if they’re not familiar.
DeleteNot a problem for Rex (and others, I'm sure) not to know the wonderful "Don't Tell MAMA" from Cabaret--but let's enjoy a sampling of the lyrics:
ReplyDeleteMama!
Thinks I'm living in a convent
A secluded little convent
In the southern part of France
Mama
Doesn't even have an inkling
That I'm working in a nightclub
In a pair of lacy pants
So please, sir,
If you run into my mama
Don't reveal my indiscretions
Give a working girl a chance
Hush up! Don't tell mama
Shash up! Don't tell mama
Don't tell mama, whatever you do
If you had a secret
You bet I would keep it
I would never tell on you!
You can tell my papa
That's alright
‘Cause he comes in here every night
But don't tell mama what you saw!
You can tell my uncle, here and now
'Cause he's my agent, anyhow
But don't tell mama what you know
You can tell my grandma
Suits me fine
Just yesterday she joined the line
But don't tell mama what you know
You can tell my brother
That ain't grim
If he squeals on me
I'll squeal on him!
But don’t tell mama what you know.
A couple of Uniclues to toss in today:
1. Where a ne'er-do-well should book a room
2. "I need a gift for that gal who has everything!"
3. Agenda of the current Administration
1. IMAGE ABATE INN
2. HSN, GIVE ME A HAND
3.DIVIDE ABOVE ALL
@Tom T 12:27 PM
DeleteIt's the original version of Pink Pony Club. Thanks for sharing. Uniclue #3 is mwah.
I have a low tolerance for too many names, especially Unknown Names, and this puzzle was the worst in a long long time on that count. In the bottom alone we have: DARA REN MCPHEE ALASKA MAINE HERMES RAE IVAN PANERA NAS HSN NEXUS, and also MAMA and VOX clued unnecessarily as names. For me it just completely spoiled a puzzle that many of you seemed to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteTypeovers: ONE SEC for IN A SEC, POKER DEALER, DIE before PIP, and PAJAMA PARTY before LADIES NIGHT mainly because it was the right length.
Much like @jberg, I tried to lawyer the theme to be about audio equipment parts - PLAYER, READER, HEAD (part of a tape recorder), METER - but the real theme is much better - I GIVE A HAND to the constructors for that. Just next time Please Pare the PPP.
ReplyDeleteI’m with @Rex in thinking the thing was called an applause METER. Never heard of CLAPOMETER. (Loved the alternative definition by @egs, and anNEXUS too!)
LAVA PIT is a TIL, too. Apparently it’s a video game thing, and the real life ones are called LAVA lakes. Scary-looking.
@Rex may need to start keeping track of “days without references to random COCs (Chief Officer of Corporations).”
It was fun to think of whistling a TUNE. Reminds me of that TUNE from Camelot “What Do The Simple Folk Do?
Also fun to see the single CAN abutting NAENAE.
I don’t see how this puzzle has a feminine bias. MAKEOVERs, GETtingINSHAPE and HERMÈS are not just for women. Ahem. If you take those away I count ten for the gents, nine for the LADIES.
Feminine: MAMA, DARA, ERA, ANTHRO, EILISH, MRSP-H, LADIESNIGHT, EOS, RAE
Masculine: INN (as clued with film with Irving Berlin songs), ALVIN, IVAN, DAE, STEER, REN, MCPHEE, ALASKA, NAS, DOG as clued. (That’s not counting STLEO or THIS American Life, hosted by Ira Glass.)
To balance out the count, today is the 99th birthday of Leontyne Price. Here is “Ritorna vincitor” from crossword darling Aida.
I liked this puzzle and I'm glad Rex at least made the point that the overall fill was interesting, because I thought it was, too. I liked the theme and all the theme answers and really didn't notice the short fill. The NW corner gave me no problems, and I never have objections to the look of the black squares the way Rex does.
ReplyDeleteI loved the clue for MRSPOTATOHEAD: I could just picture her holding up a pair of angry eyes! And nice to have John MCPHEE right next to ALASKA.
I drove from to and from Montreal this past summer; getting into Canada took 10 minutes or less, total (waiting in line and talking to their border guard). On the way back, it took well over an hour (mostly waiting in one of many very long lines of cars), and I was highly jealous of the cars that would drive up to the Nexus lane and be back through to the USA in virtually no time at all (I never saw the 'line' in the Nexus lane get more than one car deep the entire time I was there, and most of the time it was open with no wait).
ReplyDeleteWell this puz was fun Who cares about the gunk. It had potatoes and chipmunks, coffee and Bing Crosby, pizza and Alaska, wine, dogs, sandwiches...what's to complain about? A delicious puzzle.
ReplyDeleteFirst a couple of Canadiana notes:
ReplyDeleteLoved the Noah Reid tribute to the marvellous Catherine O'Hara. Sweet and funny, just like her. Last night and the night before I watched a couple of her movies - Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. Great stuff! Highly recommended, as is any movie she's in.
By the way, I believe that thing around her neck is her Governor-General's award for contributions to the arts. Just hope DJT doesn't see it; he'll start a campaign to acquire it.
Secondly, we used to have a Nexus pass that covered my wife and I because we travelled to the US three or four times a year. (Friends in Seattle, Portland, northern California, and the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.) It was great because normal border lineups could delay you 2 to 3 hours and the Nexus lineup was rarely more than 5 minutes. But there were complications. It only covered the 2 of us so if there were kids or friends in the car we either had to get in the regular line or dump our passengers, ask them to walk through, and pick them up on the other side. And we had to take the same vehicle every time because the tag was attached to a single vehicle and couldn't be transferred. We let our pass lapse during Covid and, as we are not particularly enamored of the present state of American politics, we have no plans to travel south of the 49th so we haven't bothered to renew. Things may be more streamlined now.
I miss those trips. All the great things we've seen and people we've met, the great times with the relatives and the great theatre in southern Oregon. But c'est la vie.
So, my day has been totally fractured by various appointments so I have not been able to concentrate on my usual scintillating, eight paragraph comment, but I do want to weigh in on the lend ME A HAND/GIVE ME A HAND discussion. I've been sitting here for a bit now, wondering which one really works. I've entertained various scenarios (scenari?) and the one that recurs is the one where I'm returning to the farm from the feed store with a half dozen bales of hay in my truck and I'm trying to figure out how to move them inside (I'm 73 and they're bloody heavy) and I see my healthy 35 year old son repairing the auto watering system and I shout "Hey, can you GImmE A HAND". Not exactly GIVE ME A HAND, but much closer than "lend ME A HAND". Case closed.
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle. Riddled with junk, as noted, but still fun. Thanks Aimie and Sarah.
Liked this much more than Rex did - even with all the names. I found I could work the names from the crosses. Nice reveal. Good Tuesday puzzle!
ReplyDeleteI am usually not bothered by ppp but I did notice today. Unlike Okanaganer I knew a lot that he did not.(Being a New Englander Maine was gimme for example.). So I enjoyed the puzzle overall
ReplyDeleteAgreed with Rex that the NE made the puzzle seem hard. but things got easier after that
One nitpick for Rex. If you are going to use a French accent, use the right one!
Hermès with an accent grave, not aigu which he used. Use all caps and avoid the issue entirely.
@dgd, actually from the clue Maine was a gimme for me too; I've read that one-syllable fact before. I think I also remember reading that Seoul is the biggest one syllable city in the world.
DeleteI've seen the Broadway production Chicago four times, it is among my favorites. Additionally - there is an awesome piano bar in NYC on W46th St that we go to alot called Dont Tell Mama - if you're in town, check it out, you won't be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteI liked this more than @Rex. Got a bit held up as I put in laughMETER before CLAPMETER until I grocked the theme. I also never know how NAENAE is properly spelled.
ReplyDeleteI thought this had some interesting fill - yeah, a bunch of short stuff but as usual, it didn't bother me. I also loved being reminded of that great line from Toy Story at 37A.
The theme was clever, the revealer did it's trick. I don't ask for much more. Thank you for the fun, Sarah and Amie.
My favorite part of the solve today was running into my old friend Mrs. PotatoHead! After I more or less quit playing with it myself, I took it babysitting with me. I brought the potatoes too. I remember my
ReplyDeleteI just accidentally either erased or hit publish. Sorry. Anyway, I loved Mrs. PH. I used the set so often that I even remember that the original cost all of $0.98! Sometime in the ‘60s, the set included a stupid looking plastic body instead of having the user get a real potato from the kitchen and the toy was never the same. I had tons of extra things that I collected or accessories i made from random stuff. The sewing pins with the little glass ball pinheads were perfect. You could use real buttons because the pin didn’t go all the way through the hole where the thread belonged and the buttons added so much to Mr and Mrs PH’s outfits!
ReplyDeleteAs for the puzzle, the theme held my interest and had a very good reveal. I didn’t figured it out in advance so good job Sarah Sinclair and Amie Walker.
Lots of anticipation on my way here this evening. I knew @Rex was going to gripe about the grid, but I liked the visual impact despite the huge amount of short fill. Overall, I had fun with this one. I jumped on our constructors’ wavelengths immediately and when I saw the CLAP-O-METER, I was back watching “Queen for a Day” and “Talent Scouts” on our tiny black and white set! With the modern advent of the British streaming services, about six or seven years ago I was able to binge through a bunch of the old British show “Opportunity Knocks” while recovering from major surgery. I had forgotten about how primitive early television was, yet we thought it marvelous.
I’m trying to recover from a viral something that is laying waste to NorCal. Missed posting yesterday and have zero creativity or energy today. Over a third of the high school where my son-in-law teaches is out with the stuff. It’s not the flu, but the symptoms are similar. It’s also not Covid. Just at acts like it. Because I’m immunocompromised I was tested for both. Good new/bad news I don’t have the real bad stuff but there’s not a lot to do for this. So I’m back to sleep and will continue to hydrate, rest and take all the OTC things I can find. Tomorrow’s another day.
Flu and other varieties of the crud are awful in Missouri this year too. School closed in a number of places. Hope you feel better soon.
DeleteWell, I really enjoyed this one 😊 It was nostalgic for me: MRS POTATOHEAD (using real potatoes), ALVIN & the Chipmunks, VIM, flim FLAM [man], PIP, BALSA, song from Cabaret (put in MAMA right away!), NEE (as opposed to NAE!), Bible references (thanks to Sunday School) and Star Wars references (saw the first one when it came out! I'm a sci-fi reader and fan). And I knew the more contemporary stuff as well. I listen to pop music on the car radio, I text, I'm the admin for two websites and an FB group. I watch dance crews on YT! And, of course, all of the crosswordese from doing the NYTXW for the last 50 years! This puzzle had a bit of everything for me 💚 Grid design and 3-letter words? Pish-posh! I just love language - crossword puzzles and hard print books from the public library are my (Birken) bag 😉
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