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Relative difficulty: Medium (solved Downs-only)
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| [⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2] |
Theme answers:
- AD INFINITUM (17A: *Forever)
- SUI GENERIS (25A: *One of a kind)
- MAGNUM OPUS (31A: *Masterwork)
- POST MORTEM (46A: *After the event, as an analysis)
- QUID PRO QUO (51A: *Reciprocal exchange)
["et cetera et cetera, AD INFINITUM, ad astra, forever, and ever..."]
Sui generis is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind" or "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". It denotes an exclusion to the larger system an object is in relation to.
Several disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include:
- Biology, for species that do not fit into a genus that includes other species (its own genus)
- Creative arts, for artistic works that go beyond conventional genre boundaries (its own genre)
- Law, when a special and unique interpretation of a case or authority is necessary (its own special case)
- Intellectual property rights, for types of works not falling under general copyright law but protected through separate statutes
- Laws of war, for types of actions that are argued to be legal due to exceptional circumstances in conflict
- Philosophy, to indicate an idea, an entity, or a reality that cannot be reduced to a lower concept or included in a higher concept (its own category) (wikipedia)
• • •
 |
| [this cover gives me grad school flashbacks] |
 |
| [1997: 12 appearances—more than all ORONO appearances in the last decade combined] |
TASER is always grim. Never happy to see it. But I'm way happier to see TASER than I am ****ing WWIII right now (7D: Hypothetical (one hopes!) global conflict, for short). "One hopes!" Yes, LOL, hilarious! Fingers crossed! Somehow this answer doesn't seem that funny to me right now, coming as it does in the middle of an undeclared war being waged by total incompetents who have the most powerful military on the planet but absolutely no strategy, no end game, no organized international support, and historically low support at home. What could go wrong?! Earlier today (Sunday), I went to see SIRAT, a harrowing, brutal, relentless movie that takes place against the backdrop of a very ill-defined and never directly-shown military conflict that feels a hell of a lot like WWIII. This is all to say that I was in no mood to appreciate the cutesiness of the WWIII clue. I guess actual WWIII remains "hypothetical," but pffffffft I dunno, man. It's all a little too plausible at the moment for me to be able to chuckle at it.
As usual, the longer answers were the trouble spots in my Downs-only solve. OBIT PAGES took a lot of inferred crosses. PUNTS ON was PUTS OFF at first (4D: Kicks down the road, as a decision). My [Italian cheese] was ASIAGO before it was ROMANO, and my [Rx writers] were DRS before they were MDS. Wasn't sure about the second vowel in "OVI-" (67D: Prefix meaning "egg"). Now that I write it out, "OVA-" does seem pretty unlikely, since OVA are the eggs themselves. OVO is Latin for "egg." It really could only have been OVI-. But still, I was cautious, and left the final letter blank until SISTER came along and confirmed the "I." Most dangerous error of the day was DUVET for QUILT (54D: Warm bed covering). One thing I will say about this theme—it really, really helped with the Downs-only solve. Once I got a couple of Latin phrases, I knew to go looking for them, and QUID PRO QUO ended up being a real lifesaver—one I probably wouldn't have been able to infer so easily if I hadn't understood the theme.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. my wife’s aunt Sandra died last week and so my wife (Penelope) is off to NZ today to attend the memorial near Auckland. She wrote a really moving remembrance of Sandra yesterday. You don’t have to know either of them to appreciate it. ❤️
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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Not hard, but well constructed. The Latin phrases are familiar, but require careful spelling (whether or not one is a LATINLOVER).
ReplyDeleteMy five favorite original clues from last week
ReplyDelete(in order of appearance):
1. Chicken noodle scoop (5)
2. Sticks around for a demo? (3)
3. Hurricane or mudslide (5)
4. Tanning target (4)
5. Noted series with over 200 Emmys ... and one Oscar (6)(6)
LADLE
TNT
DRINK
PELT
SESAME STREET
My favorite encore clues from last week:
Delete[Top guns?] (6)(7)
[They croak as soon as they grow up] (9)
TSHIRT CANNONS
POLLIWOGS
Harmless early week puzzle. Cute theme - yup not overly nuanced but for for its lane. The revealer is fun - the themers are exactly what they are.
ReplyDeletelink text">Screaming TREES
OBIT PAGES and GATE AGENT are dismal - add the truly awful MOPER for more pizazz. Liked AVENGE, PUNTS ON, NEBULA and OLLAS. Learned some OPAL trivia. WACO will always be David Koresh.
Alone in a crowd
Enjoyable enough Monday morning solve. Rest in power Sandra.
And when the flowers wilt
A big old QUILT to keep us warm
I have a construction question: If an answer contains an abbreviation, doesn't the clue also contain one? It's a matching-up hint? 3D Obit ...
ReplyDeleteIf an answer contains an abbreviation, the clue ought to signal this. One way and, perhaps, the most common way - but not the only way - to signal is to use an abbreviation in the clue. However, in this case. OBIT is generally no longer considered to be an abbreviation of obituary, but, rather, to be a noun in itself used as an informal alternative to obituary. The informality and casualness of the clue ("locales for the late news") is what indicates the informality of the answer.
DeleteAt least, that's how I read it. But your mileage may vary!
Anon 11:45AM UTC:
DeleteIn most NYT crossword puzzles, whether an answer will be an acronym usually depends on which of the following clue buckets you're in:
MAYBE (~50%)
The clue deploys a modifier indicating informality or shortening.
E.g.
"Bronx-born rep, familiarly" ==> acronym
"Texas-born Interstate POTUS" ==> not
PROBABLY (~70%)
The referent is typically presented as an acronym.
E.g.
"Aztecs College" ==> acronym
"Blue Devils Uni" ==> not
MOS DEF (~97%+)
The clue itself deploys an abbreviation or an explicit shorthand signal.
E.g.
"Festive mo." ==> DEC, or clues using "initials."
If not ==> wanton perfidy; cancel your subscrip. A.S.A.P., P.D.Q., etc.
Lovely echo to yesterday’s masterpiece: Jamey’s first NYT published puzzle happened on the Ides of March (the 15th), albeit seven years ago.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about it, but I guess I am a lover of Latin phrases from the simple de facto, status quo, and ad hoc, to the lengthier sine qua non, ad hominem, and deus ex machina. So, this theme gave me pleasure.
I liked the play on LATIN LOVERS too.
It’s a quirky theme – Latin phrases. The theme of Jamey’s last puzzle (3/29/22) was quirky as well – metonyms. I, a fan of quirky, loved this aspect of both.
Finally, I like how the puzzle didn’t autofill as Mondays sometimes can, that is, my brain experienced some carpe diem and cogito ergo sum.
Thus, a fun an engaging spark to the week. Thank you for this, Jamey!
Condolences to you, your wife, and the rest of the family.
ReplyDeleteAnother list puzzle! We seem to be getting a lot of these lately, which I am 100% OK with but I thought was out of fashion at NYTXW.
I occasionally lead plant walks focusing on the scientific names called Becoming a Latin Lover (although it is a misleading title in two ways).
It’s a little strange that Rex just solves it downs only and then trashes the theme. Personally, I don’t trash the themes so much, per se (is that derived from Latin? - anyway, I digress) - I don’t so much trash the themes, but I do think that the requirement to have a theme 5 days a week does detract from the quality of the puzzles.
ReplyDeleteThis one had a few knuckleballs floating around for a Monday - such as ORONO, WACO, NEBULA and OLLAS. At the end of the day, we had fair crosses, a beginner-friendly grid and no Star Wars crap, so a successful Monday.
His criticism of the them is about the theme itself, not so much his experience while solving. It would be the same if he came across the puzzle fully solved.
DeleteSouthside Johnny
DeleteFWIW
As Rex said, ORONO and OLLA are old crosswordese. Very common awhile back.but still show up occasionally these days. Rex doesn’t like them but pabloinnh calls them old friends. Convenient letters explain their continued appearance. To be honest, I also went to college in a town a half hour south of Orono so I know the name anyway!
Like you I happen to like the puzzle. I also liked the theme. Rex didn’t so he picked Latin Lovers aparn He knows better. Crossword answers don’t have to apply to every possibility. so if only some people are attracted to these phrases because they are Latin lovers the theme still works.
I started solving crossword puzzles in the mid 1990s. That’s probably why, when I first visited ORONO years later, I felt I was in crossword Mecca. Looked in a kitchenware store, but they were all out of OLLAS.
ReplyDeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteAgree that these LATIN phrases are common, which is good, as LATIN is like a foreign language. 😁
A six-Themer/Revealer puz. Nice. You know I like a lot of Theme. The fill not too shabby with having to navigate around all of them.
Interpreted the WWIII clue wrong at first, was thinking the parenthicized 'one hopes!' meant that it was hoping for a conflict. The wording is off to my ear.
Good MonPuz, not AGOG about it, but still plenty to like.
Have a great Monday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Downs only. DNF due to AVENUE vs. AVENGE
ReplyDeleteLánzame la pelota -- nadie me está mirando.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Penelope's remembrance of Sandra.
Great puzzle and excellent way to begin the week. Solid fill throughout except for a surprisingly imbalanced number of partials throwing the gunk gauge into a bit of a meltdown.
Kind of rude (and I am told I am an expert on rudeness {insert curtsy here}) that the funniest thing in the puzzle is OBIT PAGES. I guess they could be the best kind of late news if you read them with an Austin Powers accent. If they died from multiple stab wounds I guess they would be groovy baby. Or left a large estate it'd be like one meeellion dollars.
I finished this puzzle as a MOPER being forced to endure the Oscars (my wife likes them) and having seen exactly one movie this year. Hamnet was pretty good. The actress won the award. Then right afterward, they were going to run The Bachelorette, but we turned it off being allegedly too sophisticated for such shinanigans, and I'm writing about this puzzle instead of rooting for her to find love. There's my POST MORTEM and a reasonably solid explanation why I'd rather watch old sit-coms.
I generally don't count theme material as gunk, so the Latin phrases are freebies today. Sorry to the LATIN HATERS.
People: 2
Places: 3
Products: 1
Partials: 12 {yech}
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 20 of 78 (26%)
Funny Factor: 2 😕
Tee-Hee: WEE PEEN. Or, PEEN WEE I suppose.
Uniclues:
1 Right square in the middle of righty angst.
2 "I told you I was sick," or "Sheesk it's dark down here."
3 Goes for the fro.
4 And that's how Legolas survived being kicked in the you know where during the Rivendell soccer tournament.
5 One saying, "Ah, what's the big hurry to get to Albuquerque anyway."
1 AOC SPOT
2 OBIT PAGES IDIOM
3 PUNTS ON UPDO
4 ELF CUP EPILOG
5 BAD PR GATE AGENT
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Abominable snowmen suspect surprise arson attack. YETIS SENSE SLY FIRES.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@Gary - thank god for old sitcoms!! My wife also loves the Oscars, I sit in the next room and half listen in...
DeleteNeatly solved here with two tv's. Oscars on in the living room, baseball on in the office, and a pleasant evening was had by all.
DeleteI had the same Latin book at SUNY-Binghamton in the 1980s for my word origins class!
ReplyDelete@Anon 8:00am - I may have been in that class...
DeleteNot my favorite puzzle but I sure didn’t hate it as much as Rex did. Is this the first Zero Star puzzle since Rex started his star-rating system? Seems a little harsh. I got most of it Down Only but then gave in and looked at some across clues. Maybe I was just impatient.
ReplyDeleteCondolences to your wife and family.
Looks like he gave it 2.5 stars. Zero stars would indeed be harsh!
DeleteI'm not sure how to interpret Rex's rating, but it is either 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 stars.
DeleteHad a funny downs only error. Went with OVA for 67D, so for 73A had _ASTER which has to be EASTER. That made the plural OLLAE. Well, I thought, that goes with the Latin theme, but seems rough for a Monday.
ReplyDelete@Anon 8:06 am, I had the identical error: OLLAE OVA EASTER!
DeleteSpeaking of Spelling Bee, what they accept or do not accept is so arbitrary! ILIAC but not ILIA, no OLLAS allowed, but OLIO OK, many perfectly good medical terms either kosher or not. Most exasperating today was getting the nix on EXIGENCE! At east it did take NIXING. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThey don't accept RIATA or ANNUITANT, both dictionary words.
DeleteWent to a funeral not long ago where, per the deceased’s wishes, the only reading was her compiled list of Spelling Bee grievances. Hysterical. Best funeral ever.
Delete@MaxxPuzz re Spelling Bee: And today, as normal, LIGNIN is not accepted. I always try it, thinking: maybe some day!
DeleteI always try DOBRO, because my friend plays one. I think the objection is that it's a proper name, to which I say well so was xerox once upon a time. They also don't like DADO. Inexcusable.
DeleteSpelling Bee is marred by the failure to include in their solutions many words that are beyond dispute. My pet peeve is "potto". It's an animal that is widespread in West Africa. No reason not to include it. They also disfavor many common medical terms - e.g., iliac.
DeleteThe nix on EXIGENCE got me too
DeleteArbitrary SB words indeed. When a word (that is in Webster's; our authority) is not allowed in SB, either my wife or I will say out loud "well, it's not a South American rat". The many iterations of those, and similar critters, seem to consistently make the cut.
DeleteYou all may be interested in watching the latest episode of Elsbeth. Too bad they didn’t think to include a role for Rex
ReplyDeleteExcuse me, “y’all may be interested” (y’all should definitely be more than a ‘southern collective’)
DeleteAnd the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like LATIN LOVERS on the shore
ReplyDeleteChasing all them silly New York virgins by the score.
B. Springsteen
My wife complains that I hog the comforter at night: a blanket accusation! She says my excuses are all cover stories. I went to the rabbi for advice. He said it's a question of QUILT or innocence. Not every marriage is a bed of roses. He's going to sleep on it and get back to me.
Dad -- what should I do on fourth and long? PUNTSON
AD INFINITUM: A commercial that seems to go on forever
Our neighbor brought over a large container of home-made Chinese food and refused to take a penny for it. He was Chop SUEY GENEROUS.
Looks like you had egs for breakfast this morning;)
Delete@burtonkd: High praise!
DeleteDid anyone fill in "here go" for 1 across? When I was young and you wanted someone to throw you the ball, you said "here go". And it fit the space.
ReplyDeleteNever heard that in my life. Maybe it was a local thing?
DeleteBut did they actually throw the ball to you?
Deletewhere (and when) are you from? never heard it either
DeleteNorthern New Jersey. Late 50s to early 60s
DeleteGiven what's going on and an OpEd in today's NYT about the coming economic collapse, the last thing I needed was WW111 as an answer. Depressing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Rex's sarcastic take on "one hopes" was on the mark.
DeleteParticipating in this group continues to be a daily dose of joy, countering much of what goes on in the world. Even the many rantings, by Rex or any of us, typically contain enough literary pizzazz, and when not taken too seriously, are entertaining.
The Latin theme was fine.But the Monday fill seemed off to me. No 🎈for me today.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty much with Rex on this one. The Latin phrases need a little more connection than the language they're written in, or else we need more sparkling fill. Nothing more to say.
ReplyDeleteBut let me add my condolences to Penelope and her family.
A grumpy primate Monday for OFL. Guess the movie set him off.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I thought this was a great Monday. Got the "Latin sayings" early and reading the clue and knowing them right away was fun. There was a dearth of propers, always welcome, and we even got ROMANO in there as an "added bonus" I term I loathe and include only so I can say I loathe it.
ORONO may be crosswordese to some but it's pretty well known around here. We have a couple of friends who teach there. And OLLAS may be further crosswordese but to me it's just good old Spanish. Also today I spelled AIOLI right on my first try. Almost.
I thought this was a Monday that knows how to Monday, JS. Nice easy Jump Shot with an ensuing swish, he said, referencing the upcoming NCAA's. Thanks for all the fun.
Some of these games are getting so warlike that they're saying that Nintendo put the Wii in WWIII.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mrs. Egs and I met, I was a Wall Street exec and she was an astronaut. The tabloids said: Suit in C-Suite meets Sweet in GSUIT.
After yesterday's ad hominem takedown by the Anonymice I feel like a persona non grata. I'd ad lib, but she doesn't feel that way. I guess it's just a mens rea. In a priori draft of this comment I tried to ad nauseum, but it didn't work out. So I watched the Wizard of Oz and found inspiration in Toto.
@Rex -Thanks for linking to the remembrance of Aunt Sandra. I like her attitude. And thanks for the sic puzzle, Jamey Smith.
Piffle. None of the anoymous posters made a single ad hominem attack. Zero. They objected to posistions and behavior. Gary’s use of mockery principally. That you believed you were under attack was incorrect, just as it is this morning. Be assured your assertion is not strengthened by repetition.
Delete@Anonymous 10:11. I'm beginning to sense that bad humor isn't your gig. You may want to skip my comments in the future in that they are pretty much nothing but that.
DeleteEgs, I’m ok with bad humor, but not gratuitous insults or bad faith arguments. Gary consistently engages in each. I don’t know if you’re willfully ignoring my argument or playing the provacateur to bait me. Either way, I’m through reading and responding to your insipid comments.
DeleteDisagreeing with and challenging a person's positions, arguments and behaviors do not constitute ad hominem attacks. Ad hominem attacks are directed at a person's character, motives or attributes in an attempt to demean them so that their disagreement or challenges, however legitimate they may be, are obscured by attacks on the person him/herself.
DeleteAs far as I can see, no one attacked your person, and no one questioned your integrity. You were not subject to ad hominem attacks, though you insist that your were. But what a few did was question your arguments and your behavior. Whether rightly or wrongly, these are not, by definition, ad hominem attacks.
But what is certainly an ad hominem attack is when you attempt to dismiss the arguments and positions of others by calling them names - names that imply they are not to be trusted or taken seriously or are not as good as you.. Names like anonymice.
You people are so crazy you’re hilarious! Love it. Where do you even start? With the fact that ad hominem was just a Latin joke, or with the fact that you’re reading comments, every day, by the same, named person who upsets you, and writing long serious replies to their inane and innocuous jokes, instead of a half second flick of the thumb to scroll on by! Thank you for the entertainment!
DeleteLate to the, um, discussion here, and if only to (perhaps?) clarify/confirm Mr. Egs's "bad humor" soliloquy, he loaded his phrasing with as many bits of Latin jargon that worked in context (or not). Pretty amusing stuff to me.
DeleteIf I missed something deeper, more sinister, more intentionally personal, then I'm not interested.
Lovely remembrance—- sending condolences.
ReplyDeleteThe only good thing about WWIII was that it reminded me of Josh Ritter's amazing song:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5ywMC7ySwM
ReplyDeleteOne of the best OBITs ever. Hard to stop thinking about it—touching…Oh, right, the puzzle: thought this was well done and fun, though sorry we had to go to ORANO and OLLAS for fill. I don’t think I’ll ever understand @Rex’s concern with randomness—in the big scheme of things there is no way to incorporate the totality of things in a limited puzzle space, so choices have to be made on some basis—in this case Latin phrases. I guess you could narrow it down to phrases with a common subject but that’s a lot of pressure for a Monday morning…anyway, the puz generated some very funny/punny blogs today…
ReplyDeleteCondolences and it's wonderful to read such a life story, along with the journey of self-acceptance.
ReplyDeleteI thought the puzzle might be a little tougher than the usual Monday, since the Latin clues were long and I ignored them the first time around. They filled in easily from crosses, as Rex said, so I don't think I even read the clues. Ended up being a typical Monday time.
Easy-medium. All the phrases were familiar so no real problems with this one.
ReplyDeleteNo WOEs and no costly erasures.
Cute/clever with an amusing reveal, liked it quite a bit more than @Red did.
Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #1095 was a medium-tough Croce for me with the west side tougher than the east. Good luck!
Croce 1095 was hard for me, and with a one-letter DNF at cross of 21A and 12D.
DeleteTerrible editing. PUTTSOFF is much better than PUNTSON. But off wouldn’t fit. Still how do we know it’s not a rebus?
ReplyDeleteMOTHER fits as well as SISTER.
Nobody has ever heard of SUIGENERIS
LATINLOVERS!?
This is Monday. Let’s calibrate.
Figured I must have been missing something with this theme, but no—it was exactly what I thought it was…. Hated the WWIII clue too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice theme and reveal! I didn't notice the Latin from AD INFINITUM - it's a common enough USAGE that its foreign roots don't stand out. But SUI GENERIS - that's a phrase I only know from reading hoity-toity media (not really, just the NYTimes and the New Yorker, but certainly not the average sci-fi/fantasy book.)
ReplyDeleteI mixed up my Latin phrases at 51A and started putting in sine qua non, even though the meaning isn't even close to QUID PRO QUO. UPDO stopped that in its tracks.
Jamey Smith, nice job! And a surprising choice for a Monday puzzle.
Seemed like a regular sort of time for a downs-only Monday even though I got hung up for a fair bit of time in a few spots. So I guess most of it must have been very easy.
ReplyDeleteAt 37D I popped in atTEndaNT before remembering that they are on the plane, GATE AGENTs are in the terminal. Didn’t fare much better with 3D and its tricky clue. Inferred crosses to the rescue.
Only other trouble spots were the NE corner where had AIOLI and TREES but couldn’t come up with BAD PR until I tried the P in AM_LE. And ORONO at 34D. No idea until I got the 3 Os in place and leaned into my years of crosswordese knowledge to dig up that old nugget.
I thought the revealer was a bit awkward, but it got the job done.
Pleasant enough solve. Thanks Jamey Smith.
Slightly tricky, for a Monday, but I liked it. I had more of a Tuesday solve time--45 or so seconds slower than my average Monday. It's nice to have to think just a bit on a Mon.
ReplyDeleteA lovely tribute to your wife’s aunt. And the a Yorkshire lyrics aere very moving. Made me sad for her and your wife.
ReplyDeleteGotta say, my Veronica Mars rewatch has made me appreciate TASER a tiny bit more (she carries one in her bag at all times and uses it on bad guys as needed). But yeah, WWIII...ew. I'll see your DUVET and raise you a TSP (instead of CUP). Bleh.
ReplyDeleteVeronica Mars is a great watch and rewatch.
DeleteLovely remembrance. I hope Peter is holding up ok.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, only this is true...
ReplyDeleteSemper ubi sub ubi.
I was surprised that there were so many Latin phrases in common enough USAGE for a Monday puzzle - to fit in the grid symmetrically, no less. It gave me a little "ego burst" (a misunderstanding by one of my kids when they were little) each time I knew the phrase right off - including the delightful reveal. Hats off to the constructor for seeing the potential in the theme. This one gets a smile from me.
ReplyDelete@Egs 11:21 I object to your comment on the fronds that it insults my sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteI think most of your comments are great humor.
I liked this and think it's easy enough for newbies and interesting enough for all. The LATIN LOVER wordplay is amusing. My only peeve is the "?" after Deer mother (19A). Why is that there? It's not a tricky clue/answer. It's as straight forward as you can get. This happens a lot and it drives me nuts. I blame Will.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rex, for sharing the link to Aunt Sandra's remembrance. I was especially inspired by the excerpt from her letter. And the humor in the no hat song.
ReplyDeleteYou find it hard to find humor in the clue for WWIII AS DO I.
Very much appreciated Penelope's tribute to her special Aunt Sandra! She sounded like a very unique person. Sorry for the loss.
ReplyDeleteI actually thought the puzzle was very easy. I completely agree with Michael's synopsis and the real fear of getting into a war, given the maniac in chief. However, I didn't take the clue (7D) as being flippant, but rather as expressing a real fear (one hopes!).
We loved the Latin lover music!
Yeah, not the greatest timing for a WWIII reference; it did remind me of a clever album title though: there was a British band in the early 1970s named Third World War. Their debut album was eponymous, and their second album was titled "Third World War II" which I always thought was clever wordplay.
ReplyDelete@Rex, on Sundays in my local paper, the obits are definitely multiple pages (typically four!).
Did not love seeing WWIII. Much less hypothetical than a mere month ago.
ReplyDeleteWell, ... VENI, VIDI, AIOLI!
ReplyDeleteET TU, MonPuz?!
toughest Latin to AMO/AMAS/AMAT: SUIGENERIS.
I took several Latin classes, pre-college level. Thought it might help m&e with a crossword puz, someday. har
staff weeject pick: WEE. Primo weeject stacks, NE & SW, btw.
fave moo-cow easy-E MonPuz clue: {Santa's little helper} = ELF.
other fave stuff: That this MonPuz scored a ?-marker clue [for DOE]. WWIII & DIE & POSTMORTEM & OBITPAGES vibe. ROMANO cheese. IMOPEN.
Thanx for all that IDEST stuff, Mr. Smith dude. Very admirable U-count.
Masked & Anonymo10Us
Runt Puz I:
**gruntz**
Runt Puz II:
**gruntz**
UnRunt Puz III:
**gruntz**
M&A
Solving down clues only, I finished without getting the Happy Pencil, so I knew it was probably OLLAE and OVA crossing EASTER.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of odd words starting with O, ORONO was pretty tough. I vaguely remembered some odd town name but it didn't look quite right. I semi-cheated by calling up a Google map of Maine... nope. Zoomed in; still no ORONO. Zoomed in a lot and... there it is! Hiding just north of Bangor.
Another O answer: OBIT PAGES (crossing DIE!). Then WWIII crossing WACO.
Oh well, some good news: I count 14 days without any circles!!! Yay! (Hope I haven't jinxed us.)
I thought this was a very clean and very enjoyable Monday. I kinda loved it! I didn't figure out what was going on until the revealer fell and that was a lovely moment. All the themers look pretty in the grid and I thought most of the fill was fine. Though like @Rex, I'd be very happy if I never, ever saw WWIII in a puzzle again, but a constructor's gotta do what a constructor's gotta do to make things work so I'm OK with it.
ReplyDeleteI thought the theme was pretty whimsical and put up just a bit more resistance for me than a typical Monday. SUIGENERIS was
definitely not front of brain but is was fun to fight that one out. I also Naticked on the ORONO/PEEN crossing... I *know* Orono, I think I even drove through it back from vacation years and years ago, it was just hidden away for a while the old brain.
Thank you Jamey for a great Monday that made me work a bit!
And now for this Monday's installment of Hugh's Haikus:
I'm open today
To this Latin-themed puzzle
Cup runneth over
Medium for me, for Monday. I guess my main impression was, Wow, that is a LOT of LATIN!!!! Dense theme, pretty decent long downs, good Monday puzzle! Thanks, Jamey!
ReplyDeleteSpelling Bee says "Not in word list" which doesn't mean that something is not a word.
ReplyDeleteAs a Latin lover and not a movie lover I really liked this Monday puzzle! I had never heard of a ball-PEEN hammer and only vaguely knew of ORONO.
ReplyDeleteHey everybody now you can suggest a word in Spelling Bee - I have successfully done this.
ReWWIII : Tom Lehrer has written its song. But seriously think about what Lloyd Blankfein said on Bill Maher this last Friday
I too would like to add my condolences to Penelope and her family.
Also in the liked it crowd. Took two years of Latin in high school a long, long time ago in the previous century so this theme was easy pickings for me.
ReplyDeleteThese theme phrases meant the same thing when I was first introduced to them back then as they do today. That unchanging nature of Classical Latin is ones of its most valuable assets and why we see it used so often in words and phrase that are meant to stand the test of time.
Here's another phrase that I wish was more widely known in xword world for puzzles with multiple letters crammed into one square: Non rebus sed litteris; "Not by way of things but by way of letters". Or in some cases, Non rebus sed verbis, "Not by way of things but by way of words". More on this at The Rebus Principle.
SDSU (44A) alumnus* here. Go Aztecs!
*Latin for "foster son, pupil" from alere, "to feed, support".
I agree with Rex in disliking the cutesy clue for World War III. Not funny at any time, but especially now.
ReplyDeleteI use Sewer Generis all the time to describe the current occupant of the oval office
ReplyDeleteAnoa Bob.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the alumnus origin If memory serves, Alma Mater is fostering mother. I took two years of Latin at my City’s Classical High (modeled on Boston Latin). I could have taken 4 but was more interested in continuing French. Sadly my second year, the teacher had after a long career lost interest in teaching. Never did learn much beyond Gallia eat omnis divisa in tres partes
Not sure how three Latin phrases can be called a list, but they were fine by me. Especially liked sui generis. And of course Quid pro Quo was absurdly used in Trump’s defense. Interesting how ad infinitum is so much a part of English that for a moment we may forget the Latin origin. We certainly anglicize the pronunciation!
I teared up reading Sandra’s obituary. Rex is absolutely right that if has a powerful impact on commenters, who of course do not know her and her survivors. Beautifully written by Penelope;: a wonderful description of her aunt. Such a loss after a lifelong fight.
Sincere condolences Michael, to your family and friends, and thank you for sharing the lovely tribute to Aunt Sandra. The world really isn’t that big when we share o
ReplyDeleteLate Gang!
ReplyDeleteSlow Monday by time, but nothing I haven't seen before. Currently in 2013 solving back in the archive and up to mid-1995, so no trouble with OLLA(S) and ORONO. As for the SB, carioca and tontine are no longer accepted. Why include them at one point, then punish people/me for reserving valuable/limited brain cells to commit them to memory, only to remove them later? Riata, often reata in '90s xwords, also not accepted. Ilia/ileum/ileac no good. Amyl but not acyl. Am I being braggadocious? Well, obviously. Where else can I use these words, without getting punched?
Anyway, another list puzzle. I appreciated the construction more than the solving experience. 5 themers + revealer with some down entries crossing 3 themers. Certainly publish-worthy, so kudos to Mr. Jamey Smith.
Rara avis = rare bird, crosswordese worth remembering. Semper ubi sub ubi, the only thing I remembered after 3 years of high school Latin. My other 2 favorite quotes (had to re-Google): Nolite te bastardes carborundorum = Don't let the bastards grind you down (grammatically incorrect) Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale. Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur = Anything said in Latin sounds profound.
Not fun: fill-in-the-blank legalese. Some recent ones I encountered in the '90s puzzles: [NOLLE] prosequi = charges will be dropped, Guardian ad [LITEM] = guardian for the case (for a minor or incapacitated person).
Joy of the day: learning about Aunt Sandra. I absolutely hate funerals. Doesn't matter if I knew them or not, I bawl my eyes out every time. I like the idea of funerals being a celebration of life, and I love the idea of wearing colorful clothing. That just gave me the idea to request an ugly-Christmas sweater type of theme for my own funeral. Well, the thought amuses me. RIP Sandra. :_)
Sincere condolences to you and your family, and thank you for allowing us to share the lovely tribute to Aunt Sandy.
ReplyDeleteAs for the puzzle, I liked it. SUI GENERIS may have been a tad out there for a Monday, but being of the lawyer persuasion, I was happy to see it. Made me think of all the “Latinisms” I know and have used that could be eliminated in favor of plain english. The reveal, made me laugh as I recalled the same phrase being leveled derisively at me as a very young lawyer.
A judge I appeared before regularly for almost 30 years was a bit of a tyrant. OK, he was a tyrant. His courtroom ran on time and his rules were absolute. If he ordered that briefs on an issue were to be no more than five pages long (including the signature page), he meant it. Heaven help the lawyer who submitted something longer. He would look at the last page and, while glaring at the litigant would rip off the extra pages one by one and fling them off the front of the bench, calling out the page number as the paper floated down toward the counsel tables. Then, he would say, “Mr. Smith, we will wait while you clean up your mess.” When the offender had all the papers picked up, the next thing was, “Mr. Smith, are you hard of hearing? Did I set a page limit?” The rhetorical questions were just dreadful, but the embarrassment was 100% avoidable. And I swear everyone knew the rules. Local court rules are published every single year for every single county and included any judge’s “special rules.”
His courtroom was the “ceremonial courtroom” in my home county. The bench was so high you felt like “Dorothy the small and meek” appearing before Oz himself. I was well schooled by many more experienced lawyers before my first trial in his courtroom, and had survived ample motion experience in front of him. I thought I was ready. And I was - almost.
A few days before jury selection, we were to argue my final amended motion which, if I prevailed would mean I won on the primary issue of law, and all we would have left were a couple small procedural quibbles that could be settled.
The issue turned on two new statutes that had never been tested in court. But I had all the research, all the legislative history, had trimmed my brief down well under the 20 page limit, and my argument walked the court step by step through to my conclusion.
Overconfidence can be a terminal disease in the courtroom. My brief was solid; I am a very good researcher and writer. And on this day, before this judge, a tad too proud of it. I succinctly walked him through my argument in under my allotted 5 minutes.
My bang-up summation sentences ended something like this: “With unusual legislative clarity, the new statutory scheme provides measurable steps to avoid the need for lengthy arguments such as the one before the court today. Res ipsa loquitur (meaning the thing speaks for itself).”
I started to return from the lectern to my table, and he growled “Stay right where you are; I have a question or two.” One of the many “Oh s**t!” moments of my life. The judge just stared and I dared not speak.
After what seemed like hours, he finally spoke. “You should have stopped precisely two sentences before you tried to impress me with Latin. All you young lawyers are LATIN LOVERS. If someone hearing you doesn’t know what res ipsa loquitur means, it weakens your premise about the new process being so crystal clear, doesn’t it.?” At least I had the good sense not to argue; I got the point. And learned (most of the time) not to “try” to impress, just buckle down and do the job.
Good fun today.