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Hi, everyone, it’s Clare for the last Tuesday of March — and the last day! Spring is here (aka the cherry blossoms are going gangbusters in D.C.), and it feels like I’m coming out of hibernation. I’m writing this from my new apartment, which is about three blocks from my old apartment. So: My pup doesn’t have to get used to a new dog park, and I got to pack haphazardly, meaning a bunch of trips with my things (and I have way more things than I realized!). I’ve been loving watching March Madness (go, UConn women) and rooting on the Penguins to a playoff spot. But, I’ve buried the lede! BTS is back!!! Here’s a link to their new single, “Swim,” which just debuted at No. 1 on Billboard, along with their No. 1 album “Arirang.” And here’s my favorite song from the album. Enjoy!
Anywho, on to the puzzle…
Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: FANTASY LAND (64A: Utopian expanse ... a map of which might include 17-, 27- and 48-Across?) — Each answer was a fantastical word combined with a geographical feature
Theme answers:
- MYSTIC RIVER (17A: 2003 crime drama adapted from a Dennis Lehane novel)
- MAGIC MOUNTAIN (27A: Six Flags location that was the first amusement park to offer 20 roller coasters)
- UNCANNY VALLEY (48A: Concept explaining why certain humanoid robots look so unsettling)
Reminisce Kioni Smith, known professionally as Remy Ma, is an American rapper. Discovered by the late rapper Big Pun, she came to prominence for her work as a member of Fat Joe's group, Terror Squad. Her debut solo album, There's Something About Remy: Based on a True Story (2006), sold 37,000 copies in its first week. Ma's most commercially successful songs include "Lean Back", "Conceited", and "All the Way Up.” She is one of five multi-time winners of the BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist, which she won in 2005 and 2017. Ma is the recipient of two Vibe Awards, two Source Awards, and has been nominated for four Grammy Awards. (WIki)
• • •
Well, that was a puzzle. A pretty good puzzle? A slightly harder than usual Tuesday puzzle? A somewhat boring puzzle? All of the above? The theme didn’t grab me — I guess I don’t spend much time thinking about fantasy lands — even though one of my favorite phrases was in the puzzle: UNCANNY VALLEY (48A). Such as, “So-and-so actor is looking like they’ve had some sort of work done on their face, and I can’t pinpoint what, but they don’t look like themself. There’s something UNCANNY VALLEY going on.” It’s a phrase that might’ve stumped some people, but I thankfully got it immediately.
The puzzle did have some other particularly fun words and phrases. I love the word LOLLOP (51D: Bound along clumsily). Do I use that word much in my day-to-day life? No. Should I? Yes. Am I going to? I hope so! GAS GUZZLER (29D:Vehicle with low fuel efficiency, in slang) is a great phrase and incorporates some fun — and possibly tricky — Zs into the puZZle. I like the word TAVERN (8D: Establishment where a D&D party might refuel and pick up new leads). And UPTOWN GIRL (11D: Billy Joel title character who's "been living in her white bread world") is a great song; the movie “UPTOWN GIRLs” is incredibly fun, too, with Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning. (If anyone has a spare Blumarine dress from the opening scene, let me know.) My favorite clue was for ARIAL (39A: Typeface that sounds like the name of a Disney princess). I don’t like beer, but my sister and dad do, and HAZY IPA (52A: Cloudy craft beer) is also a fun answer.
HOLST (1A: "The Planets" composer) felt a bit hard for a Tuesday, especially as the default first clue in the puzzle. I stared at that for a good while before realizing I could get the down, HOME (1D: "E.T. phone ___"), and just move on. HOLST (1A) crossing LASE (3D: Produce coherent light) was a bit challenging. RAN AWAY (25A: Fled the scene) was particularly hard for me to get for some reason — I wanted “getaway” or “got away” or something along those lines. I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to spell NAIAD (22D: Water nymph of Greek myth). One clue/answer I didn’t like at all was TRI (5D: Muscle strengthened by dips, familiarly). Like, are you going to go do a TRI dip on one side and work out a single muscle? No, I’m pretty sure you’ll work out your TRIs (plural).
The rest of the fill was pretty… fine. I liked SIT SKI (4D: Piece of equipment for a Winter Paralympian), showcasing the Paralympics. DIRE (42A: ___ wolf (extinct canine once prevalent across North America)) wolves is fun — even if the ending of Game of Thrones (showcasing DIRE wolves) wasn’t. Kenan & KEL (63A: Kenan's bestie on a 1990s sitcom) is a show I haven’t thought about in a long while but had fun remembering. But, ORE, ERIE, UNE, MAR, PIN, NAG, RIM, etc. don’t inspire much of anything.
I might just be tired and grumpy (moving is hard work!). But I just don’t have much of anything else to say about this mostly meh puzzle.
Misc.:
- My sister tells me that TAE Bo (19A: exercise regimen popularized via VHS tapes) is having a huge comeback right now I may have to forgo the VHS tapes and see if I can find some workouts online somewhere!
- AS IF (7D: "Dream on!") definitely makes me think of “Clueless,” a phenomenal movie. Come on, we can all just picture Cher saying “Ugh! AS IF” in that disgusted and wonderful tone of hers.
- 2020 might’ve been the year of THE RAT (9D: What 2020 was a year of, in the Chinese zodiac), but this is the year of the horse — specifically, the fire horse.
- Does anyone actually still say LMAO (59A: "hahaha!")? I like to think of myself as fairly hip and in the know, but while “lol” has made a comeback (which I use basically as punctuation), I truly don’t see LMAO written anywhere.
- I haven’t read many books this month because I’ve been busy moving, but my favorite was “Star Shipped,” by one of my favorite authors, Cat Sebastian. Highly recommend — 5/5!
And with that, I'll see you in April!
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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I thought this puzzle was a bit hard for a Tuesday, but not because of 1A Holst. That went in as fast as 1D Home.
ReplyDeleteBut tavern had to come from crosses as I had no idea - still don't- what a D&D party means.
Slow to think Kirin might be a beer and no thoughts of competitor's names. No idea about a crime novel for Lehane novel , and a few more.
Didn't remember having heard of uncanny valley concept, but interesting to read about.
I did like the long answers
I’d like to say, with genuine respect, that your particular wheelhouse is fascinating to me. It’s completely opposite mine, and that’s a fun reminder of why puzzles are interesting for everyone.
DeleteD&D = Dungeons and Dragons, though I couldn’t tell you if the party is the group of characters inside the game, or the group of characters playing it at their favorite watering hole.
Dungeons & Dragons
DeleteDitto. Has to use Uncle G twice.
DeleteTough Tuesday for me.
ReplyDeleteNo costly erasures but I did not know UNCANNY VALLEY and LOLLOP (which made that cross tricky), ONYX, MYSTIC RIVER, EXES and TAVERN (as clued), plus HAZY IPA and REMY…tough puzzle.
Fun/clever theme with some fine long downs, liked it a bit more than @Clare did.
…. and @Clare - re: “Clueless” which is indeed a fine movie - I just finished reading “Emma” and I now know how apt the movie title is.
Thanks, Clare, for the nice write-up. I'm back home in MA now, we'll see how many days it takes me to adjust this trip... I liked the puzzle a little more than @Clare did, I'd give it ***. No STAR WARS clues, amirite? Loved those long downs too--the UPTOWN GIRL definitely drives a GASGUZZLER, right? HOLST was a gimme for me--one of my favorite pieces of classical music which I, like, actually listen to periodically. I have a CD of it somewhere... 10:04, so I guess that's medium challenging for me on a Tues. I think of 56 across as being a pet PEEVE, right? Loved the themer set, and revealer.... except I don't really know what "FANTASYLAND" is, I wanted to add another IS in there to get FANTASYisLAND.... I can here Ricardo Montalban now in his dreamy fine Corinthian Leather voice... : ) thanks, Ryan, for a fun puzzle!
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it home without a hitch.
Delete
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new digs, Clare!
Easy, but easy is the Tuesday norm. Solved without reading the clues for the long answers.
* * * _ _
Overwrites:
In a crisis I raised an ALeRt instead of an ALARM (67A)
WOEs:
Rapper REMY Ma (36D)
I'm not a beer (or ale) drinker, so I've never heard of a HAZY IPA (52A) but I had it filled in before I saw the clue.
Fairly challenging for a Tuesday, especially since I had "were(wolf)" for a long time until the crosses mandated DIRE (didn't know that specific wolf). The NW was the last to fall, with lucky guesses giving me the ONYX/EXES cross.
ReplyDeleteHow is “X” a “lucky guess?” What else can go in ONY-?
DeleteDire wolves have been cloned back to life recently
DeleteInteresting theme but terrible fill, on average. Scraping the bottom of the crosswordese barrel over and over. And THERAT!? LMAO no.
ReplyDeleteGAS GUZZLER and “UPTOWN GIRL” are killer though.
⭐️ ⭐️
~Bill
UNCANNY VALLEY and REMY Ma were WOEs to me--and Clare, the first sentence in the Wikipedia entry for her might as well have been gibberish, as I've never heard of Fat Joe or his Terror Squad or any of the other proper nouns mentioned in that entry. Apparently I'm old. :) But that helped me with HOLST (had HAYDN in there at first but I kind of knew that was wrong). VALLEY was the only thing that made sense, but I had NAh instead of NAW for 26D, which didn't help. Harder than a regular Tuesday for me for sure, but I did enjoy the theme.
ReplyDeleteClueless came out when I was 14 and I lived in Southern California. When the movie was playing at the dollar theater, my best friend and I went to see it every day after school for three weeks. Amazing movie!
ReplyDeleteI guess I’m grumpy today, but I really didn’t like this. It wasn’t hard and some of the longer answers went right in with almost no crosses (MYSTICRIVER, UPTOWNGIRL) But I couldn’t remember HORST, no idea about REMY, and never heard the term UNCANNYVALLEY. I also think LOLLOP is a completely ridiculous made-up word.
ReplyDeleteMade-up word, heh! I guess you don't do Spelling Bee. :-)
DeleteJJK
DeleteI assume you mean LOLLOP is a very rarely used word that annoyed you because of course it is a word. Personally, as long as words like that are not overused, I don’t object to them. I do find the expression made up word grating, even if hyperbole. Nothing made ip about it.
Lollop is a lovely word, and one that should be used more often. It’s a lovely spring day, take a moment and look up the word and then go for a lollop. You will feel better about the world, i promise
DeleteSomewhat curious that "lollop" and "uncanny valley" cross days after FLOTUS pranced along with "another?" unsettling humanoid robot in what's left of the White House, LMAO
DeleteLOLLOP is new to me, but I like it. Nice long downs in UPTOWN GIRL and GAS GUZZLER.
ReplyDeleteTHE RAm before THE RAT, AReAL before ARIAL. I barely know the western zodiac, let alone the Chinese one, but I have no idea where I got AReAL from. Normally I have a problem with ARIEL/ARIAL, but I don't think I've messed up the I before.
We stalled for quite a while before finally admitting that, yes it's THE RAT, even though THE word THE is in THE clue, which I thought was absolutely verboten. Not nearly as much of a fan as Clare.
DeleteIt’s hard for me to recall a puzzle that I’ve had more of a wavelength mismatch with than this one, which is bizarre for this early in the week. I have no idea who HOLST was, don’t know any Ariana songs, I don’t know what “coherent light” is, never heard of a SIT SKI . . . and that is only that tiny little 4x5 corner.
ReplyDeleteIt just went on an on like that - HAZY IPA, the rapper, UNCANNY VALLEY means NAE NAE to me, Dungeons and Dragons, which I thought was a video game, etc.
It’s been a long time since a Tuesday grid beat me up this badly. Oh well, at least the bruises are just figurative (and fortunately my EGO is unscathed, as I have made peace with the fact that I’m not well versed in trivia or popular culture, and it’s going to bite me occasionally).
SSJ, you and I are on the same wavelength. So many answers we finished typing, followed by "huh?".
DeleteCluing a word like TAVERN with (apparently) a Dungeons and Dragons clue? Or does D&D here mean something different, more risquΓ© maybe? (Gary, help me out.)
Confidently wrote in both HAZY IPA and TOGAE before seeing that E_I wasn't a Biol. or Chem. Then compounded the mistake by trying to keep TOGAE and make Biol. and Chem. ENGineers. Nitpicking, but shouldn't that clue have a "for example" qualifier?
And a few years ago UPTOWN GIRL started playing and my wife and I said in unison "this is my least favorite Billy Joel song". At least the two of us are on the same wavelength.
Was expecting two stars (max) from Rex; Clare your write-up did not betray much grumpiness to me. Glad your move went well!!
Yeah, my sons started playing D&D when they were ten, continued it until their mid-teens; no taverns involved. But since guys in their 40s are now flocking to movies based on comic books, maybe they play D&D as well.
DeleteOr maybe it was meant to mean "Drunk & Disorderly" in this context.
Light from a LASEr consists of photons that are all on the same wavelength (thus "coherent" with each other in that way). It's a wavelength thing. ;-)
DeleteDrunk & Disorderly?...hmm. Probably not from the clue, but I didn't think of that. I lead a sheltered life ππ.
DeleteSouthside
DeleteThe LASE clue answer combo is more a science category, not pop trivia. Ditto UNCANNY VALLEY (robotics.
What a quirky and interesting theme, with its two-word answers melding fantastical elements and geographical features. When I uncovered the revealer, I had to take a moment to appreciate it, because it was so perfect.
ReplyDeleteSo, there was that. And there was more.
I learned UNCANNY VALLEY and thought, “Yes! I’ve experienced that! And now I’ve got something to call it!” And LOLLOP. Never heard it before, but will remember it because it is really fun to say.
Then the memory-burst at UPTOWN GIRL, which I haven’t heard in forever. When that song came out, I practically had to break into dance every time it started playing, and today, hearing it in my head, it filled me with zing.
Plus, little word-nerdy things, like a rare-in-crossword five-letter palindrome (REFER), a pair of answers that can be names … or not (DEAN, NORM), the neighbors CRIMEA and RIVER (Hi, @SP!), and a DIRE straight and WATTS up.
A rich outing is what your box brought me today, Ryan. Thank you for this!
Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see river, mountain and valley as being that specific to a fantasyland. I grew up in Poughkeepsie, which is in the Hudson Valley and has a river right there and mountains not far away, and for the most part it was hardly a fantasyland.
ReplyDeleteIt's not "last words," it's the whole thing -- MYSTIC, MAGIC, UNCANNY, FANTASY naming particular river, mountain, and valley.
DeleteThanks – totally missed that!
DeleteDon’t tell me the brain doesn’t work in strange and marvelous ways.
ReplyDeleteI woke up in the middle of the night, bolt upright, with the thought, “The six pestles”. Yes, “pestles”, as in mortar-and-pestle.
Then I practically laughed out loud when I realized it was a play on Johnny Rotten’s band, and pictured a Sex Pistols tribute band taking the name The Six Pestles. I can’t tell you the mirth this thought filled me with.
It lasted but a moment, then I calmed and returned to a deep sleep.
Don’t tell me the brain doesn’t work in strange and marvelous ways.
I smell a puzzle coming:)
Delete... crossed my mind.
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteChalk me up as one who hasn't heard of that UNCANNY VALLEY usage. Strange words to describe an off look. Why not just ... somethings off?
Rumblings:
For us NFL fans, WATTS could've been clued as "TJ and JJ".
I wouldn't mind being an Ariana Grande EX. (Would prefer to be her current, actually!)
Odd clue for TAVERN.
Got an OOXTEPLERNON cousin with SIRNAWNAGYRS.
Was thinking of taking my 1976 Lincoln GAS GUZZLER out for a drive today, but I think it'll be too windy.
Off puz, Diesel prices are insane.
Nice TuesPuz . A both-words Theme. With the Revealer masquerading as the fourth Themer.
Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
Hi Clare-Glad you're around today to explain things like REMY and that D&D is actually played in a TAVERN. I've been in lots of TAVERNs and never seen that. Hope that moving apartment to apartment is easier than moving from a big house with a two story two-car garage into a condo. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteSome crunch for a Tuesday, good. TIL UNCANNYVALLEY, spelled NAIAD right on the first try, remembered ALOO and ASAHI, and had fun visualizing a crossword NENE dancing the crossword NAENAE. No offense to the rapper, but REMY can be ____Martin or better yet Red Sox guy Jerry _____, That's the list, at least for me.
Interesting Tuesday, RPS. You Really Pulled Some neat answers out of somewhere. Nice work on including LOLLOP, and thanks for all the fun.
I'mma be that guy: the quote is actually "E.T. home phone." I know we all remember it differently, since it sounds better in English to say "phone home." But that ain't the quote. :)
ReplyDeletePartially right. ET says your version originally but then gets corrected by Elliott and the “phone home” version then becomes what gets said in the movie. A lot.
DeleteHmmm…I always thought there was a resemblance between ET and Yoda…
DeleteClare Carroll is Mena Suvari's character in American Beauty.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good puzzle, but how is it that we get SANYO appearing twice in rapid succession with the same clue??? This sort of thing always baffles me. We know puzzles are made by individual constructors and submitted far in advance. This is not some kind of current zeitgeist-y word multiple constructors may be trying to work into their grid. Does the editing team just decide to group all of the puzzles containing SANYO in one week? How does this happen?
ReplyDeleteRandomness. And Will relying on stock clues (extremely common)
DeleteI can’t believe I completed this puzzle.I just didn’t like it even though the theme was decent. No πfor me.
ReplyDeleteI love the word LOLLOP. I don't think I've ever used it, but I've certainly read it, most often as a participle, "LOLLOPing along." Wait, is it in Jabberwocky? Or am I thinking of galumphing, which is certainly there.
ReplyDeleteI commented earlier about D&D. I was also puzzled by the word "location" in the six flags clue; I was trying to guess the name of a state or city. But I can see it in retrospect. Also, I'm trying to think of what the six flags (over Texas). Spain, Mexico, Texas, USA, CSA--what's the other one?
Holst's "The Planets" was a fad during the 1970s. It's a fine piece of music, but it seemed to go beyond that -- I thought it must have some psychedelic or astrological significance, but never figured it out.
The toughest clue for me was "like flapjacks or Frisbees." Tossed? Flipped? A real d'oh! experience when I saw they were ROUND.
Lollop is the best word and Lolloping is the best activity ever
DeleteI thought they were discs.
DeleteWith prices at the pump these days, many are asking "TOGAS or not TOGAS?"
ReplyDeleteFor a fun bit of inebriation, I prefer a HAZYIPA ASAHI to that of a Kirin competitor. And that reminds me of a strange weather effect I sometimes experience. When it's HAZYIPA lot.
Does an ion that loses its charge become an UNION.
As the French say (homophonically) "KEL FANTASY". Thanks, Ryan Patrick Smith.
Medium for me. Today's time was five seconds faster than yesterday's. The solving experience was very similar: a somewhat choppy grid entailing a lot of three- and four-letter words, and lots toggling between Across and Down.
ReplyDeleteEvery time Clare writes a guest post, I feel very old. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoy her voice -- but mention of BTS, and UNCANNY VALLEY as one of her favorite phrases (a phrase hitherto unknown to me), and thinking that UPTOWN GIRL is a great song, and knowing the relative current popularity of lol and LMAO (which, let's face it, is another way for the NYTXW to include an obligatory "ass" mention) -- all these things set me and her widely apart. Re UPTOWN GIRL, here's Ron Rosenbaum who does a pretty good job pinpointing why he finds Billy Joel annoying. (UPTOWN GIRL isn't my least favorite -- those honors might go to "We Didn't Start the Fire", which I think even Billy Joel hates.)
Mention of paralympians puts me in mind of Oksana Masters, whose backstory is just incredibly moving. That woman is steely tough.
I'll see you later!
Just for the record, the dead tree paper clue fir ARIAL was 'Basic typeface', No Disney princesses invoked. Which I prefer.
ReplyDeleteAnd no D&D clue for 8 down. It was taphouse.
DeleteFirst learned about the D&D clue for 8D here: my print edition clue was just "Taphouse."
ReplyDeleteHolst and Lollop pretty easy. I thought LMAO and its sassy big sister LMFAO we’re still in use, i know the weird cousin ROFL has been sent to the country to stay with the naughty PMSL. Apparently my print version differs on 8D, my clue was “Taproom”
ReplyDeleteFirst puzzle I've liked a lot in a while. Not too hard but except for SANYO several clever, unfamiliar entries.
ReplyDeletePersonal confession: I used the ARIAL font in my email for at least 5 years before I realized that it was not spelled ARIeL--like the Shakespearean character, not the Disney one!
ReplyDeleteEntertaining Tuesday puzzle with a clever theme. Seems like I’d heard or seen the term UNCANNYVALLEY before today but hadn’t really needed to figure it out. At any rate, after looking into it, I figure the valley is a “valley of uneasiness” due to the creepiness of the human representation. So I’m now armed with a new concept I kinda like.
ReplyDeleteI guess knuckle cracking and nail clipping in public can be PEEVEs, but for some people I’d say it rises above PEEVEdom and is cringe-inducing. (We won’t say WHO but I will note my husband does NOT crack his knuckles and we both privately clip nails π) I know…I’m overthinking PEEVE…I think it was perfectly fine, it just gave me pause.
weirdly, this was one of the easiest ones in a while for me. i tend to need some oomph from the wordplay column and a few regretful googles here and there, but this was entirely a breeze. lots of the cultural references (i.e. DnD with TAVERN, robotics with UNCANNYVALLEY, 2010s music with the NAE NAE, and LMAO) i was able to get in a snap. even clues like Gustav HOLST (big ups to the Berliner Philharmonik’s recording on spotify i listened through years ago) and GASGUZZLER were relatively quick for me to get with a few fills. the only real struggler i had was mayyybe MYSTICRIVER, as that came out the year before i was born and i don’t particularly watch crime dramas, but alas
ReplyDeleteon the LMAO comment, yeah i and others still use it all the time on discord messages and youtube comments lmao
fave clues: ARIAL, UNCANNYVALLEY, GASGUZZLER, HOKUM, NAIAD, TAVERN
my crosswordese PEEVEs: ERIE, UTE, ALOO
also, i feel like besides the usual suspects, the nytxw has been using duplicate clues a lot. MAUI was in the mini today. SANYO was in the crossword yesterday. and the whole LSD/ONLSD/LSDTAB thing from last week. but maybe it’s because i’ve only been doing crosswords regularly for a few months now.
I always look forward to Clare on Tuesdays! She truly loves the experience of solving crosswords and relishes the opportunity to share it with us.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of UNCANNYVALLEY but after researching the meaning can say I’ve experienced it. Tougher than usual Tuesday with some tricky potential answers—hand up for problems with ALert and NAh. But rescued by UPTOWNGIRL with Billy Joel now echoing in my brain. For some reason felt HAZYIPA was kinda green paint answer—was looking for something more exotic than just IPA. Mention of D&D brings back memories of the kids’ game pieces all over the house.
ReplyDeleteI thought this puzzle. was a cut above the usual Tuesday, engaging and creative and with some wit. I give lots of credit to the constructor for seeing the potential in FANTASY LAND and coming up with those three right-on-the-money theme phrases. On a much more minor note, a bonus for me was learning the definition of LOLLOP, which heretofore had simply been a sequence of letters useful in the Spelling Bee.
ReplyDelete61D ANNE Frank of diary fame?
ReplyDeleteGlib and gross
Daughter of holocaust survivors here, did not find that clue glib or gross. Glad to see a reminder of the horrors of WW2. Too many deny-ers out there…..
DeleteKinda an unearthly first-/last- word combo puztheme. Only ding I'd offer is that 35-Down oughta be Lake EERIE.
ReplyDeleteAgree with some, that it played a little feisty-ish, for a TuesPuz. It had its share of near-no-knows, which gobbled down a few extra precious nanoseconds, here and there. Most of the clues did, at least, stay non-mystical.
staff weeject pick: ALA. Mainly cuz I liked it crossin near-no-know ALOO.
stuff liked along the way: UPTOWNGIRL. GASGUZZLER. DIRE wolf [I hear tell they're bein brought back]. ALARM with its underbelly BLEEP.
Also partial to LOLLOP, as M&A recently had splatzed it into one of his own puzs ... and had worried it was too obscure for respectable crossword usage. Feel much better, now.
nice weeject stacks, NE & SW, btw.
Thanx for the unearthly earth stuff, Mr. Smith dude. Nice job. [And NAW NAE NAE NAIADs!]
And good to see U again, Ms. Clare darlin. [And GO ILLINI!]
Masked & Anonymo5Us
Las robots humanoides se ven inquietantes.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I got the hook again yesterday. Still confused as to what is causing that. Perhaps it was the BEAU using the LASSO for an unreasonable goal in a uniclue that brought the ax down.
I had a good time with this puzzle. I remember UNCANNY VALLEY from a previous puzzle. I spent some time then researching the topic and it turns out the closer a robot is to being real the more we hate it. We use robot trainers at work and man oh man are they reviled. The owner of some tech company somewhere is sitting on his yacht right now because he sold Lisa to us. Lisa! Ugh.
I wrote in MYSTIC PIZZA because I don't know Dennis Lehane, I've never read a crime novel, I've blocked 2003 out of my memory, and I like pizza.
Middle of the bell curve is a ne'er-to-be-achieved aspirational goal for me.
You're in charge of naming wolves, and you name one DIRE? You stink at your job.
If you're playing D&D right, a TAVERN is where you pick up bad ideas, weird memories, and STDs.
❤️ BLEEP. LOLLOP. HOKUM.
People: 7
Places: 4
Products: 12 {not necessary}
Partials: 5
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 30 of 78 (38%)
Funny Factor: 1 π€¨
Uniclues:
1 How evolution began.
2 Fire drill in Paris.
3 How Paralympians compete and bump some tunes at the same time.
4 Those really big mouse traps.
1 KOI RAN AWAY
2 UNE ALARM ROUND
3 SIT SKI SANYO
4 THE RAT LEVEES
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: they spell the flavor funny of them "-Its" / makes me s'mad I gots-ta spitz / aginst it I yam an' it gives me fitz. CHEEZ-NOS POEM.
¯\_(γ)_/¯
Not a Dead fan, I take it.
DeleteI can't believe how much this was not in my wheelhouse. DIRE, NAIAD, KEL, REMY . . . a NW corner that starts off with HOLST (Are you kidding me?!), the whole UNCANNY VALLEY thing...Not my kind of Tuesday, that's for sure. Made me feel, old, tired, and out of it.
ReplyDeleteMy first FANTASY LAND was MYSTIC pIzza but that wasn't hard to replace with the RIVER. And I wanted some HOoey rather than the HOKUM variety of malarkey but otherwise, this puzzle went pretty smoothly.
ReplyDeleteI know LOLLOP from Spelling Bee but for some reason equated it with a dOLLOP rather than a clumsy form of gaLLOP. Good to know. And now I have that stupid Daisy sour cream jingle in my head ("Do a dOLLOP, do, do a dOLLOP")
Ryan Patrick Smith, thanks for a nice Tuesday puzzle!
Theme seems very flawed to me. MYSTIC RIVER and MAGIC MOUNTAIN are actual places, so how do they fit with the FANTASYLAND reveal? (I get that it could just be referring to the first word in the theme entries, but that doesn’t really work either.)
ReplyDeleteI never really heard of UNCANNY VALLEY.I was unfamiliar with a few of them: 63 A - KEL; 52 A - HAZYIPA; 1 A - HOLST; 42 A - DIRE; 22 D - NAIAD; 36 D - REMY. so it was kind of a tough Tuesday for me .
ReplyDeleteFor Anonymous 11:14: Right. I no longer pay close attention. He or she might have unresolved issues.
ReplyDeleteThumbs up to this Tuesday puZZ - HOLST, NAIAD, TAVERN and HOKUM add to the FANTASYLAND.
ReplyDeleteLOLLOP in a sentence: Post-wallop, the trollop’s gallop was a lollop.
Of course LOLLOP is made up. Aren’t all words made up?
LOLLOP isn’t included in etymonline.com, but according to M-W it’s from loll + -op (as in gallop) and his two meanings: 1 loll, 2 to proceed with a bounding or bobbing motion. First known use was 1745, in the meaning defined at sense 1.
More research:
From Britannica.com, UNCANNY VALLEY, theorized relation between the human likeness of an object and a viewer’s affinity toward it. The hypothesis originated in a 1970 essay by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori, in which he proposed that as human likeness increases in an object’s design, so does one’s affinity for the object—but only to a certain point. When the likeness nears total accuracy, affinity drops dramatically and is replaced by a feeling of eeriness or uncanniness. Affinity then rises again when true human likeness—indicating a living person—is reached. This sudden decrease and increase caused by the feeling of uncanniness creates a “valley” in the level of affinity.
Holy Holst Robotics!