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Live the single man's life, slangily / THU 4-9-26 / Start issuing stock, in Wall Street lingo / Joey of kid-lit / Customizable Asian-fusion dish / Dessert with rings on top, literally / Dessert in a boat, literally / Triangular dessert, literally / Pose for which you must plant your body on the mat? / Tone used to create an antique vibe / Early Ron Howard TV role
Thursday, April 9, 2026
Constructor: Barbara Lin
Relative difficulty: Easy
Theme answers:
- PINEAPPLE EKAC (i.e. "pineapple upside-down cake," where "cake" is upside-down] (4D: Dessert with rings on top, literally)
- BANANA SPLIT [where "split" is split in a "Y" formation) (6D: Dessert in a boat, literally)
- APPLE NRUT [i.e. "apple turnover," where "turn" is turned over] (38D: Triangular dessert, literally)
- BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE [where "crumble" is crumbled into a kind of pile at the bottom of the answer] (20D: Dessert with a streusel-like topping, literally)
I A
N N B
E A L
A N U
P A E
P S A B
L P P E
E L P R
E I I L R
KT TE Y
A N C
C R RU
U MB
T LE
Word of the Day: BACH IT (6A: Live the single man's life, slangily) —
To live by oneself, as an unwed man (or "bachelor") does. The phrase can be "bach it" or simply "bach." (thefreedictionary.com)
• • •
Also, I'm not sure I've seen a worse opening to a puzzle than GOIPO into BACHIT. Never say either of these phrases anywhere near me, please. And unless you want to fight, definitely don't say them back to back. I know you're supposed to read it as GO I.P.O. (1A: Start issuing stock, in Wall Street lingo), but all I see is "GOY-po," which is how it deserves to be pronounced—like a nonsense sound made by some obnoxious child's toy or space alien. As for BACHIT, it sounds, well, bat sh*t. If I hadn't seen it in a puzzle before (and hadn't yelled at it before), I would have struggled with it, which would've made things worse. Actually, BACH IT hasn't appeared in the puzzle in 32 years, but I know I've seen it more recently than that. Must've been some other puzzle. GO I.P.O. is actually a debut, though I know some puzzle tried to force that answer on me before as well. Xwordinfo.com is helpfully telling me that one of the anagrams (maybe the only anagram) of BACHIT is "biatch." Wonder how long we'll have to wait until we see BIATCH in the puzzle (the OED says it's "derogatory and offensive," but other dictionaries have it as "affectionate" or "comedic" as well). If it shows up before OZU I'm gonna be so mad...
[BACH IT!]
No difficulty today. None. It's Thursday, and there was no challenge. So the puzzle was disappointing on that level as well. Again, it's not as if there were no pleasures to be had today. As I said, taken individually, the themers were kinda cute at times. NOODLE BOWL and ART CURATOR aren't exactly barn-burners, but they're good. Are they LOVEABLE? Not sure I'd go that far, but one might. You might. None of the clues really sparkled today, though the LOTUS clue is certainly trying (59D: Pose for which you must plant your body on the mat?) (get it? "plant" ... 'cause the LOTUS is a ... "plant"). I did appreciate the effort.
Bullets:
- 17A: Joey of kid-lit (ROO) — presumably you knew that the clue was looking for a baby kangaroo and not some guy named "Joey." ROO is hanging out today with a whole bunch of his crosswordese friends. It's a real crosswordese who's who: OPIE, Lisa LOEB, Brian ENO ...
- 19A: Customizable Asian-fusion dish (NOODLE BOWL) — as I said, I liked this answer, and it was also the only answer that I struggled (slightly) to get. The clue was too vague for me to just PLOP it down. I needed to build out NOODLE before I had any sense of what I was dealing with.
- 22A: Ex-Yankee with appearances on "Shark Tank," familiarly (A-ROD) — in that it refers to both the Yankees and "Shark Tank," this might be the least appealing clue I've ever read.
- 42A: Amundsen who went to the South Pole 15 years before he flew over the North Pole (ROALD) — Dahl has been canceled for anti-semitism, so now we just have to live with "B"-list ROALDs. (Don't worry, anti-"woke" folk, he hasn't been canceled—he appeared four times just last year ... he was anti-semitic, though)
- 53A: Zebras in the field? (REFS) — "zebras" is slang for American football referees because of their black-and-white striped uniforms.
- 72A: Community traversed by the Pacific Coast Highway (MALIBU) — I like MALIBU because Rockford lived there. And because of this song.
- 58A: On which to watch the Beeb (TELLY) — Brits! They watch the BBC! On the television! Only they have adorable slang for both these things!
- 9D: "___ Gabler" (Ibsen play) ("HEDDA") — I have been meaning to see last year's film adaptation by Nia DaCosta, about which I've heard good things. It appears to be only on Prime, which I ditched a couple years back, so it may be a while. I just got a bunch of new movies from the most recent Criterion sale, so it's not like I'm hurting for movie-viewing options.
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109 comments:
Easy. Would have been better without the circled squares.
* * _ _ _
Two very minor overwrites:
My 12A set part were cdS before it was a DVD
At 74A, I thought of pac-Man before ANT-MAN
No WOEs.
The missing OVER in 66D bothered me. Based on 4D, it should read "apple upside-down turn." Or maybe 4D should read "Pineapple cakeover."
I was hoping OFL would start a "Days in a row with a 16-wide grid" or at least "Days in a row with a non-standard grid". We're up to three 16-wide grids now! I think it must be a record!!!! This was done in 9:57 for me, which is definitely easy for a Thursday. I don't notice those little inconsistencies as much as @REX does, so it didn't really bug me that there were 2 different types of theme answers. But I really didn't think that the graphic for CRUMBLE represented crumbling very well... maybe more of a slump??? (I think it's hilarious that there are like 9 different terms for cobbler... slump... brown betty... whatever! : ) Having both OCHO and OCTAL in the grid was a bit of a dupe. We've got a mini-fauna theme going with RHINO, ROO, zebras in a clue, ANT, and EEL. And I always love the initialism IRL... somehow ironic, since they're using it online, right? The long acrosses were pretty good, MALIBU, NOODLEBOWL, NANOBOTS (my favorite Spelling Bee word of all time) and PETRIFY. Thanks for this yummy puzzle, Barbara! And now I'm hungry....
I finished without cheating, somehow. Saw BANANASPLIT quickly, and figured out PINEAPPLE(upside-down cake), but still needed lucky guesses for the BACHIT/CHOO cross and the BLUEBERRYCRUMBLE mish-mash. Fairly mild trickery for a Thursday puzzle, I thought, even absent any revealer.
I spent my adult life as a stockbroker, and took advantage of IPOS (initial public offerings) on occasion, but never once heard the expression "GO IPO." That's either a very recent addition to the Wall Street lexicon, or simply made up.
Agree with Every Single Thing OFL says this time. And shouldn’t TURN be “over” APPLE? Rather than the same trick as upside down CAKE? This was just really not quite there
Wonderful puzzle - the trick concept is consistent - I’d agree that each themer construct varies but I think it makes it even more fun. BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE is the highlight.
link text">Modest Mouse
Another 16 wide layout. Overall fill is slightly tepid - trending early week but held my interest. LOVEABLE, PETRIFY, ART CURATOR, MALIBU all top notch. I love a spicy ALOO gobi. Some short glue - Rex singles out a few - I didn’t love the WAN x ARE cross.
Nico
I’m not going to over analyze this one - an enjoyable Thursday morning solve.
Ultravox
Pretty easy for a Thursday.
Surprised this was accepted with CAKE and TURN basically doing the same thing. But despite that I enjoyed the puzzle.
Man, do I love blueberry crumble.
Is SEPIA a tone? I would have called it a color ... or maybe a hue??
Thank you Rex for including the MALIBU video. I I were forced to choose just one album to be the only album I could hear for the rest of my life, Hole's Celebrity Skin might not win, but it would get serious consideration.
I liked the rebus theme. But I naticked in the northeast.No🎈for me.
Hey All !
The 16 widers keep on coming! At least it merits the yearly puz subscription price ...
Interesting puz. I had a feeling Rex would critique this puz a bit harshly. I actually thought he'd say there was too much going on, but instead he cited the inconsistency. If you take it as two of each kind of Themer, well then, the Theme works just fine.
I'm sure this was a toughie to get clean fill in. Examples are 1A & 6A. GOIPO is a real Huh? Had I submitted this puz, it would've come back as "GOIPO is not a thing", amongst other reasons for no. There's plenty of better fill that works in that corner.
Chalk up a full point for ROO today! That gets me to Four so far this year! Tied with @egs, he had that one epic puz that netted four. If you're playing along, @pablo has 1 3/4, Rex has 1, @Les S More has 2. If I'm missing you, let me know!
Hope y'all have a great Thursday!
Three F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
I am a retired securites lawyer and worked on numerous IPOs. We never said "Go IPO". The moment when we cleared the SEC, received its approval and started sales is "going effective".
NOPE!
What a lovely touch to have every dessert be related by fruit. What a brilliant way to illustrate CRUMBLE. What fun wordplay, turning these desserts into letter manipulation riddles.
For me, this was a playground of a puzzle, and enjoyment is what counts most, of course, in how good a puzzle is.
This is also a quality build. What are the chances you can get four fruit-dessert answers to fit symmetry, as Barbara did? Also, when answers go diagonally as SPLIT does, it greatly constricts the surrounding answer possibilities, and look at how cleanly Barbara filled it in.
Look at the lovely answers NOODLE BOWL, UMBRA, NANOBOTS, PEALS, TIFF. Look at the lovely [Damage caused by a mole, maybe] for LEAK, a new clue for an answer that has appeared almost 300 times in the major crossword outlets.
So, I loved this never-done-before theme, I loved uncovering it, and I loved the art of the artist that made it. Thank you, Barbara, for this day brightener!
Played about Medium for me. To say it up front, there was some real AWFULness in there -- I'm sorry Barbara Lin, but it's true. GO IPO and BACH IT are truly hideous; I hate them both on sight. (Isn't it usually "go public"?) Hard eye-roll at the POC "OJS". Okay, those were the worst of them, I guess. Probably not enough sin for me to agree to the two stars. Anyway, just wanted to get that out of the way.
Oh yeah, there was one other thing that left an ACRID taste, and that was the clue for AROD. First, the sheer petty obscurity of it. I know of Shark Tank; I didn't know (and I doubt many people will) that AROD appeared more than once on it, and worse, who even cares. Second, I kind of hate that show, largely for one reason: Kevin O'Leary. Why do they always place the least LOVEABLE, that is to say the most obnoxious host in the dead center of the panel? Jesse Watters, that piece of slime, is similarly thus placed on The Five (which I don't watch IRL; I just see YouTube clips of it that give one a sense of its horribleness, Jessica Tarlov excepted).
As for the theme and its alleged conceptual incoherence (per Rex): it didn't bother me as much, or even much at all. I wasn't aware of an unwritten rule that all theme gimmicks must follow the exact same scheme. I think I'm willing to permit a little more latitude. In my view, the theme cleaves into two identifiable gimmicks, according to whether there were circles involved or not. Those with circles center on the fact that the nouns (SPLIT, CRUMBLE) were originally verbs, and those verbs are being represented visually. I actually like the one for CRUMBLE. It sometimes happens as I'm cooking that when I reach for the salt vessel, I'll pick up a little clump of salt and then I'll crumble it over the food, and it will look something like what the puzzle is trying to convey. Then, for the other desserts (without the circles), the wordplay centers on an action performed in the creation of the dessert, e.g., you "turn over" (fold) the pastry dough. Those actions are also being rendered visually. So in all four cases, there is either a verb or action involved that is being rendered visually (and the meanings of verbs typically involve actions, so there's a sort of unification there).
Okay, that'll be all for now.
Just plain annoying.
A hippo who dresses up as a RHINO and calls himself a RHINO is a RHINO in name only,
NOODLEBOWL: Site of the New Year's Day football game for Penne State.
OJ'S: Shortly after the famous trial, OJ's daughter was driving around in his car and wrapped it around a telephone pole. When the cops came, she said "Oh, man. When my dad finds out about this, he's gonna kill me." When the cop saw who it was he said: "You're right. Gonna get away with it too."
Ibsen's notebooks reveal that his first version of the play was about a vegetable stand and was called HEDDA LETTUCE. When that bombed he revised it to involve a turkey farmer and called it HEDDA GOBBLER. Only when that crashed did he write the version we all enjoy today.
SV! The first link doesn't link. Can you correct?
Thought Noodlebowl was a lost opportunity to apply the food theme ...
I’ll stand bravely with you on this island of enjoyment, Lewis! Looks like it’s just the two of us here 😂 I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks, Barbara!
@Lewis. I just reread your musical list from yesterday and enjoyed them just as much with the passage of time. (My favorites are Etude and Tenor.) I noticed there were so many you felt the need to alphabetize them. Wonderful!
I guess it could be fun if there is a constituency for puzzles where the theme is to read the constructor’s mind and try to determine the “gimmick du clue” instead of the gimmick du jour. Add in a few quasi words or phrases that nobody really says or have a very limited usage such as BACH IT, GO IPO and UMBRA and you could have a real winner on your hands (well, not really, but you could get published on a Thursday in the New York Times).
I wish I had enough foresight to say I’LL PASS on this one ahead of time.
In the software startup world, you’ll hear “go IPO”.
“They’re getting ready to go IPO.”
“When do you expect to go IPO?”
I'll second your entire writeup.... except I do say "baching it, eh?" sometimes.... just not used to seeing it in writing...
Ok, you really got me cracking up with Penne State !!!!!
I will join this minority opinion
Note to editors, who do such remarkable work. I have a request, and I’m guessing I’m not alone in this request.
For years and years, Thursdays were not only marked by trickiness, but were also tough to fill in, often as tough as Fridays and Saturdays. As one who became skilled at solving the more difficult puzzles through doing Monday through Wednesday grids, I loved the process of cracking a tough puzzle – thinking laterally, learning oft-repeated answers, seeing answers with fewer and fewer letters filled in.
By being tricky, Thursdays were fun, and with the layer of difficulty added to it, they became riddle-fests supreme, requiring brain-loving effort, and bringing deep satisfaction.
Recently, the difficulty has dropped, shifting Thursdays closer to the early week rather than the later week, and as one spoiled by how things were before, I have to register my discontent. You provide puzzles for newer solvers not only Monday through Wednesday, but also in the minis and midis now offered.
Oh, I love puzzles such as today’s, with its wit, beauty and humor, but I would have loved it more had it included more rub.
Please shift Thursdays back to where they used to be, and, IMO, where they belong. Thank you.
I don’t know but SEPIA tone rings true to me.
Same here @Rick Sacra. Haha…even though it’s based on “bachelor” it looks alien when written.
Seems like @tht discussed UMBRA/shadow the other day.
I saw PINEAPPLEEKAC early, and actually did laugh out loud! I smiled through the rest of the puzzle, which I thoroughly enjoyed, so I happily join this group as well.
Cackled at “ Never say either of these phrases anywhere near me, please.”
One of those days where I'm completely in sync with Rex; though it's better when the puzzle gets four stars rather than two.
Said out loud "Rex is going to hate GO IPO and BACH IT" across the top. But loved his explanatory paragraph (and concerto selection).
And his reaction to AROD ("least appealing clue I've ever read") made me smile; while the dual thoughts of that overrated roid-using cheater and overpaid celebrity blowhard made me nauseous.
One more observation re the inconsistencies of the theme answers. Three baked goods and an ice cream. I know all the clues specify a "dessert". But I assumed that one of the REFS here might throw a flag.
Other than GOIPO and the IRL weirdness of BACHIT, I was surprised at Rex’s analysis of the themers. I mean…he is factually correct, but…those differences didn’t affect my enjoyment (or appreciation) in the least. It may be a tad on the easy side for a Thursday but that’s not Barbara Lin’s fault.
Also, I’m happy to report that I think my brain has permanently retained ALOO as Asian potatoes!
Fun.
BACH IT is still in the language, has a high xwordinfo database word score and has been in a Shortz puzzle before. It’s understandable why the constructor would use this as fill given the grid pressure from the theme answers.
Totally agree with the awfulness of GOIPO and BACHIT. Brutal especially to start. Am I the only one who thought of this show? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banana_Splits
Buncha good stuff today, @Liveprof
Amen.
Oh, you glorious man, you. Keep 'em coming!
I don’t believe an ACRE is a lot. An ACRE is made up of lots.
The significance of life-long bachelor Amundsen's BACHig it UP at the two Poles (not the SLAV kind) puts him certainly and securely on the A-List.
It is important that people understand that “high xwordinfo database word score” is an entirely meaningless thing. Stop listening to databases and listen to your own damn ears.
Ridiculously easy. 9:32
I guess the NYTXW is looking to boost revenue through selling sponsored answers, cuz 16A SAYS ADHERE.
I'll bet @Roo was salivating when he saw all the ROOs. I guess you could say he put the ROO in DROOL.
I let out a Giant Jesus when I first saw ALOO in the puzzle. And then I gave my kid some candy when he pointed out that I had duplicated answers for the only actual ball player in the grid. I figured spare AROD spoil a child.
Do you think you're supposed to read IRIS backward since Siri is such a sweet little thing that you could eat her for dessert?
Wacky desserts. Good theme. I'm not concerned about inconsistency. Thanks, Barbara Lin.
I don't recall ever having heard or seen the word "streusel" before, but the clue does say it's a topping, which was all I needed. I just didn't know which way CRUMBLE would go. First I tried
C
RB
UL
ME
then
C
RE
UL
MB
Then I finally figured it out. Anyway, I thought the theme was terrific. In my mind it's a virtue, not a defect, that the basic concept is implemented in four different ways. I mean if they're all the same it makes solving too easy.
I'm not that familiar with APPLE TURNOVERs, though, and wasn't thinking of them as triangular. Apple pie, OTOH, is usually consumed in triangular slices, a fact that really got in my way.
As for BACH IT, I've certainly heard and read the phrase, as in "I have to BACH IT for the next couple months while Matilda is off trekking in Nepal with her friends." Only I always thought it was spelled "batch it," to as not to sound like one of those composers. So I resisted it, but I think Mr. CHOO is the only Jimmy making shoes.
I got off to a slow start theme-wise, as PINEAPPLE CAKE fit just fine. It took the BANANA SPLIT split to make me understand what "literally" meant.
My worst moment was probably having ARTC--ATOR and making it "CreATOR+," which would have been a horrible back-formation from the already horrible "content creator." Fortunately, Norma RAE soon set me straight.
I second all that (and it's very sweetly and thoughtfully expressed), but I get the sense that nobody there will pay attention. In a better world, the fact that it's you in particular meting this criticism would carry a lot of weight. ALAS, NO.
So I have heard the expression "Go Public" for decades, but never once GO IPO.
I see that there is a proprietary site for facilitating IPOs called GOIPO, but have not seen any other readily available reference. Perhaps someday the expression may obtain status as a generic (or near generic) trademark - but we're hardly anywhere near the realm of bandaids, xerox, kleenex or q-tips here.
The first themer that I saw was BANANASPLIT and initially thought we were dealing with a rebus (I do like a rebus on a Thursday) but as things filled in I figured it out. I agree with Rex about the inconsistencies in the theme but enjoyed this no etheless.
And I do agree with you, Lewis about wishing for more difficulty on Thursday, and more trickiness.
you'd have to make it a sweet dessert.
If cluing AROD with Shark Tank as an attempt to give the clue a Thursday level of difficulty, it entirely misses the mark on what comprises difficultly - which, except for a clever reason, does not include adding obscure, meaningless and irrelevant trivia.
Amen. And Amen.
Well said, Lewis. You make an excellent point about novice solvers already having Monday through Wednesday to hone their skills. It therefore seems fitting that the remainder of the week be tailored more toward the seasoned veterans who want a challenge.
I had no problem with the arrangement or consistency of the themers. Fully expected the CAKE to be upside down and was a little surprised the entire answer didn’t just go from bottom to top. Same on the turnover. The SPLIT and CRUMBLE were logical, not sure how else you could’ve done those. So, no complaints on the theme, but I always put an X next to clues referencing proper nouns or trivia. Today there were lots of them. And - hate having to say it again but - lacking any Thursday challenge. Not the puzzle’s or constructor’s fault which day it was published, however.
GOIPO and BACHIT were way clunky but inferable. Did not know HEDDA. Rex is WAY too nitpicky about the theme. Solid theme, IMO. I liked it alot . I have seen Brian ENO's name a thousand more times in crosswords than IRL.
The brain did not ADAPT to the shifting gimmicks this morning. In retrospect an interesting feat of construction but guess I needed stronger coffee to cope. Kudos to those who aced this one. GOIPO seems kinda green paint to me—first effort was GOpub. Good to see @Roo getting so much recognition. Loved the SPLITs and CRMUEBL…
See above. Apparently the "software start-up crowd" uses "GO IPO" when some new tech miracle (sic) has occurred.
I have a one acre lot, an acre and a half lot, and a fifty acre lot, it's okay with me 👍
Agree that the variation is a plus not a minus. Come on Rex - don’t be foolishly consistent!
Echoing @Rex, I really wanted the BANANA itself to be SPLIT and the BLUEBERRY to be CRUMBLEd, like the CAKE was properly upside down and TURN was OVER on its head. While I'm kvetching - in the grid the BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE is being served upside down, maybe reflecting a mishap when removing the dish from the oven. Other than that...fun to solve, fun to think about desserts. Non-theme highlights for me: PETRIFY and the old-timey BACH IT, which I don't think I've heard in a coon's age.
Easy for me too. No costly erasures and no WOEs although I did pause a couple of times. In the SW ANT and TIARA did not come easily plus I kept wanting terRIFYfor PETRIFY.
Cute and breezy, liked it quite a bit more than @Rex did. The inconsistency didn’t bother me, but I’m with @Lewis on the increasing lack of difficulty/trickiness on Thursday.
My reaction to Rex mentioning ARTCURATOR was "What? I didn't see that!" Because I got it all from crosses and didn't even notice. Way too easy for a Thursday.
It’s not variety. It’s bad design. They should have all been different in their own ways, but consistent with the logic throughout, not half and half like this. Splitting “split” makes no sense. The banana should be split. The blueberry should be crumbled. It’s weird you can’t see this. That “foolish consistency/hobgoblin of little minds” saw is tired. It is not an argument in favor of anything. Just some hackneyed language that you think makes you sound smart or open-minded. Rex is 100% right about the inconsistency here. Not foolish. He has a reasoned argument. You have loose vibes.
This, exactly.
The ether ate my earlier attempt. To summarize:
Knew IPO but not GOIPO. In the @egs and @liveprof spirit, BACHIT sounds like what you'd do to try to complicate a simple piece of music. The trick was apparent at the upside down cake and the inconsistencies bothered me not.
Two ROOS
There is no rebus
For me, the consistency of the theme answers all belonging to a fruit dessert was enough to make this work. I get Rex's observations, but those things just don't bother me. I'll admit to some panic when the NR turned up under APPLE and the crosses insisted that was correct.
CDS before DVD and crop TOP were my write-overs. I've never heard or seen written GO I.P.O. GO public, yes. Launch an IPO, yes.
Everything I know about high-end shoes I learned from "Sex in the City" (i.e. Jimmy Choos). I don't wear heels and the only footwear I've paid more than $100 for were (was?) for sports such as running or hiking. I have this darling pair of dress shoes that have ribbons for laces and no tongue. This means the grommets around the eyelets dig right into the top of my foot, becoming excruciating after a while. Guess how often I wear them, even though I get compliments on them?
Barbara Lin, I ADORE your clever Thursday puzzle, thanks!
Sepia tone is definitely a term in wide usage
When my daughter was little, we read the Little House on the Prairie series out loud as nighttime reading, and that was where I first encountered today's most hated phrase: two men were described as "baching it", which I read out loud as "Bah-king" (as in the composer with an -ing tacked onto the end). My wife and daughter both responded 'what???' and we had to look it up to realize it was pronounced 'batch-ing' and figure out what it meant! I've never used the phrase since learning it, but I got it pretty easily due to LHotP all those years ago!
Well, yep ... @Lewis is spot-on. Too easy for a Thursday. Gettin rid of The Circles woulda added a little feist. A few more ?-marker clues mighta also toughened things up a mite.
Oh, oh --- and definitely add another [maybe Across?] themer that does somethin different; M&A strongly [no, urgently] suggests...
...................SLL
CINNAMONRO
staff weeject pick: IRL. Kinda a no-know, but I can guess what it's stand-in for. Nice headless companion for the "gone" GIRL entry.
honrable mention to ROO, of course.
Oh, yeah -- and NOODLEBOWL coulda been NOOOODLEBOWL, or some such. Bathe us in different ahar moments, for them ThursPuz solvequests.
All that said, this was a clever WedPuz puztheme idea. Woulda said "superb", if it had had the CINNAMONROLLS.
Thanx for the fun, Ms. Lin darlin. Nice job. And GOIRL.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
p.s.
runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
We are watching your skills grow in real time!
Sex and the City
I’m with you, Lewis.
@Rick, @Beezer. Exactly. I resist pronouncing it that way when spelled that way (for some reason like J.S. Bach).
Hah on those CINNAMONROLLS -- excellent one!
My wife is requesting (begging, actually) that you stop encouraging me. But I very much appreciate the kind words (esp from egs). I had a feeling about today after I completed the puzzle last night and my first thought upon waking up was "have to do something with Hedda Lettuce."
I also really enjoyed this puzzle.
Cute theme. But whoever wrote the ridiculous number of bad clues and solutions here should actually be fired. Good riddance to this puzzle!
Go IPO is definitely used in the world of people who help corporations go IPO. It’s a handy phrase, much quicker to say than any alternative way to express the same thought.
On "it's weird that you can't see it," I can see it. I understand Rex's review and agree that it is well-reasoned and I respect it. But I enjoyed the puzzle nonetheless. Thus, for me, allowing the consistency factor to diminish my joy seems like it would be foolish. You know, for me. And I am smart and open-minded (don't listen to my wife, kids, and everyone who knows me). And a bunch of us are in this camp -- enjoying it despite the inconsistency. So it's a matter of taste, it seems to me, and I'd refer you to that hackneyed Latin expression if I could remember it. Something about disputing.
SEPIA: definitely a tone, but colour and hue work just fine. Originally SEPIA was a brownish liquid medium made from cuttlefish ink. The Greek for cuttlefish is σηπία (sepia). We still have lots of sepia drawings in museums. Leonardo liked to use it. It became popular - as a tone - in 19th century photography because the black and white images produced using silver proved to be unstable over time. The more stable siver sulfide was subbed in, producing a warmer tone which people apparently liked, especially in portraits. Now we have sepia filters in our smart phone cameras.
End of Art 101 lecture. Tomorrow's topic: casein - paint made from milk. (Just kidding. Relax.)
I like this a lot—doing the same tick for both “over” and “upside-down” did bother me a little more than Rex. Different words should be represented by different visual tricks.
I enjoyed the theme in this puzzle and agree with those who thought the variety made it better, not "inconsistent".
For some reason I did not see the circles going to the right until long after I killed in the left side so took it as splitting off from straight down. Which of course was a bend not a split.
Thought Cute when I saw the split.
Had doubts about goipo. Interesting to see the different takes from commenters.
@ Liveprof, I don't get the Rhino bit, but from Noodle bowl/Penne state on I was chuckling.
Egs ADHERE great(in a depressing way)
Thanks, both ,for the laughs
Two stars is one too many.
Coninued from Part 1, which I sent prematurely, and then had to go out for lunch....
Two ROOS if we count the DROOLing one, so things are back to normal. The lead is fast increasing and the solace I take is that it's my granddaughter's birthday, which means it is also mine. I have sent her the Youtube of The Beatles "Birthday"--You say it's your birthday, it's my birthday too yeah, which I hope she enjoys.
Nice Thursdecito, BL. Any inconsistencies Bothered Less than the actual satisfaction obtained, and thanks for all the fun.
Go IPO? I worked in investment banking for twelve years and never once heard that term. When companies issue stock for the first time, the 'go public.' This clue and its solution confirms a long-held suspicion that the folks who create these puzzles make up a lot of the popular lingo that appears in them.
Like Rex, I was bothered by the inconsistent theme treatment, but in the end not badly enough to hate it. Actually I think I still like it. But as Lewis and others have said, we need more challenge on Thursday!
9 down was a double typeover... I could sorta hear the title in my head but had to try HENNA (yeesh), and HETTA before HEDDA.
Re ROALD Dahl, there was an article in the March 16 New Yorker about the play "Giant" which is about his antisemitism.
Oh! and 37 across was a word in Spelling Bee yesterday (but in the singular of course).
@Liveprof: "Penne State"... nice one!
When we first contemplated ditching the city for a more rural existence, we started looking at one acre lots, thinking we would have enough room to raise a few goats and chickens and create a sizeable vegetable garden. We now have five acres, a small herd of goats, 2 llamas, a 5-star resort for chickens (mostly constructed, not yet populated), and an adequate veggie patch. The city lot we left measured 60 by 120 feet (16% of an acre) and was considered large in our neighbourhood. So, yes, in the city an acre would be a lot! But in the country, not so much. In the U.S. Midwest, where farms run to thousands of acres, one acre is not a lot; it's nothing.
@tht. Kevin O'Leary actually put himself up as a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada during the Trudeau years. Didn't work. Seems we're not that interested in having caustic TV personalities running our country.
Apple turnover would have worked much better if APPLE had been going down, then OVER turned to the right or left (omitting the work 'turn').
For me, the great challenge and opportunity, when I took crosswords up a bit more seriously than passing time on an airplane, was the continuous and progressive honing of skills in a micro level each week and on a macro level as you stuck with it for weeks and months and years. All that is being lost when Thursdays (and even, sometimes, Fridays and Saturdays) are practically handed to you - with merely a cleverer (or is that :more clever," judges?) gimmick distinguishing it.
The NYT Puzzle is still far from being the middle seat on an airplane - but that is sadly the direction in which it is pointed.
Better than this puzzle's punz!
@Les 2:00pm, I'm guessing you mean the Justin Trudeau years. (At first I thought: is O'Leary old enough to have been a candidate in the 1970s?)
HEDDA, the film, has wonderful acting and script, but it loses Ibsen's je ne sais quois for me.
Worth watching, though.
Isn't the term just "go public"? One less syllable...
actually, "go i.p.o." takes longer to say than "go public," which is the usual term.
Re: My earlier post.
I'm only taking points for ROO, MONSTER, or ROOSTER. Not parts of words (although, the ROO's cross.)
Gotta give @pablo a fighting chance.
😁🤣
Roo
Thanks to all the shout-outs!
Easier keeps more subscribers.
Enjoyed this puzzle much more than Rex did. Names were few and gettable from crosses. Sweet theme. A very nice Thursday.
I prefer to think that I’m getting better at this than that puzzles are getting easier :-)
Rex nailed it. 💯
I teach at a business school. Go IPO is nonsense (unless it's regional; I've never heard it once)- "go public" or "...have/when's your IPO." I would have given yesterday 4 stars but this is a one-star puzzle.
everything rex said. it’s bat shit crazy…
35 years as an analyst and portfolio manager, including working on many IPOs, and I never once heard, much less used, the expression "Go IPO." No no no. Not a loveable answer.
No, gracias. Paso.
Count me among the fans of this one. I prefer the weird and ungainly messy themes and the nonsensical Thursday silliness, so this was fun. I know lots of people are going to their grave grumbling things are easier than they used to be. I pretty much doubt whether the harumphensteins will ever see their hopes of Back to the Future Part X-word coming to fruition and I'm always amused that this is the place to post your ire, but what the heck, maybe someday, right? Our grumbling here ended dupes for good, right?
I'm with those who can't embrace GOIPO. Just look at it. In Spanish, GUAPO means handsome, so maybe redefine this ugliness as a handsome tech opportunity. Let's get in on the ground floor of this GOIPO early. In the meantime, let's call it a partial and move on counting gunk.
Enjoyed the conversation on pronouncing BACH IT. Imagine the conundrum we would face if the noted composer elected not to get married.
Seems like JADE would be much more often not carved.
Only because it's late in the day, let me share a moment from Harry Potter. When Hermione Granger meets Harry for the first time, she also meets Ron Weasley, and her first sentence to him is a brutally condescending, "And you ARE?" It sets off a torrid multi-year love affair that ends in their marriage and children. Nice to be reminded of that sweet moment.
I learned PETRIFY and TERRIFY have the same number of letters.
Blueberries are the very last berry I'd put in anything. They're everywhere and in everything. Eat a blueberry and wait five minutes and another blueberry will come along. The blueberry salesman is killing it. He's friends with the chocolate chip salesman. They're crushing their quotas with mediocre products.
[Aromatic bit of a tire] is that weird smelling air from your bicycle tube. It goes in smelling like air and comes out smelling like a felony. Maybe I'm letting the air out of too many tires. Maybe I should stick >get it?< to lipstick TUBES?
❤️ ROO/DROOL. ACRID/ODORS. NANOBOTS.
😫 That clue for LOTUS. Clank.
People: 8
Places: 3
Products: 8
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 1
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 27 of 81 (33%)
Funny Factor: 3 😐
Tee-Hee: Ball bearer. ATIT.
Uniclues:
1 Lunch you don't wanna eat in a china shop.
2 Dude who's bad at baching it.
3 What I plan to do after taking Bill Gates version of the covid vaccine.
4 YouTube.
5 Relic rebellion reconciliation.
1 RHINO NOODLE BOWL
2 AS ONE, AWFULLY
3 I'LL PASS NANOBOTS
4 TANK TOP TELLY
5 ART CURATOR TRUCE
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Foot fetishist thoughts while trying to get some work done. TONE IT DOWN TOES.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m old so it’s probably always going to be “go public.” Sounds better to me un a sentence, but there’s the old thing again.
Hey @Roo, I absolutely adore that you are keeping score! Several years ago, DILLY appeared, but I don’t recall seeing it since.
@tht. During his military service (USAF) having to “bach it” was definitely a thing. For example, during the height of the Viet Nam era, when the B-52 squadrons were extremely busy, R&R wasn’t always scheduled optimally. You’d hear something like, “you got R&R on such short notice? Can your wife join or are you going to have to BACH IT?”
@Liveprof, my first thought when HEDDA (Gabler) was resurrected (she was a regular in the ‘70s), was “@Liveprof can’t miss HEDDA lettuce!” Your wife will just have to live with your cleverness. It’s therapeutic , laughter being medicinal and all. Keep ‘em coming!
Another hearty AMEN @Lewis, and very well said.
I learned BACH IT during my husband’s military service. Afterwards we also used it as an inside joke during our years as music students. At home, as he was preparing to put on some music (vinyl of course - ‘twas the ‘70s), he’d often ask something like “How about some Dave Brubeck, or as usual, would you rather BACH IT?” Kind of cute seeing that phrase again.
I grumbled a bit at the theme that didn’t quite hold together, but the puzzle was fun. I enjoyed seeing how our constructors mind works. At the end if the day though, the theme answers should have been either all constant as OFL suggests, or all unique, which disqualifies the APPLE NRUT.
At the end of the day though, I long for a true Thursday puzzle. @Lewis said it so eloquently, supra.
Having crumble under the blueberries also bothered me, especially since the clue mentioned a topping.
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