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Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: Not on a Friday! TGIF!
Word of the Day: I WANT CANDY (11D: 2000 song for Aaron Carter about seeing someone "tough but sweet") —
Aaron Carter released a cover of "I Want Candy" as his seventh overall single, and the second single from his second album, Aaron's Party (Come Get It) (2000).
This version of "I Want Candy" begins with a phone conversation with a friend about a girl named Candy and features the participation of his brother Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. Carter promoted it by performing it on the show Lizzie McGuire. A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Andrew MacNaughtan. Carter released a remix of the song in 2018, self-produced on his LøVë album.
(I know the original Strangeloves version of this song, and I know Aaron Carter from that time he beat Shaq, but this cover was new to me)
• • •
Hey Puzzle People! In case you couldn't tell by the fact that I talked about knowing an Aaron Carter song, it's a Rexplacement day, and you've got Eli blogging your puzzle. And what a delight to get today's puzzle! To be fair, I love Rachel Fabi. She's not just one of my favorite constructors, she's also just awesome. She actually sent me the dry yeast that became my sourdough starter at (or just before) the start of the pandemic. That starter is still living and fermenting like crazy! Anyway, sorry if I'm a little biased. Let's get to it!17D: BRINGER: "Mars, the ____ of War" (first movement of "The Planets")
I played tuba through high school, so I have a real affinity for Holst's "The Planets" (especially Mars), but that video is still the first thing that pops into my nerd brain when I hear it.
ON A POSITIVE NOTE (6D: "Bad new aside...") I truly enjoyed this puzzle, even if it didn't put up much of a fight. A lot of long fill, natural language, fun trivia, and I still finished well under 4 minutes. I don't think I rolled my eyes once. It was sharp, clean, and modern while staying mostly accessible with very few proper nouns. Even looking back over the grid, I'm not seeing much to criticize (outside of the difficulty). 7 down answers longer than 9 letters (plus a grid spanning Across) and not feeling any strain? That's impressive. LORD IT OVER (28D: Act superior to) and TAKES A HINT (10D: Gets the memo) both stand out.
I don't think Rex has been doing the "Days Without A Star Wars Reference" bit for a little while, but if he was, he'd have to break the sign. We have both HAN (35A: Solo pilot?) and YODA (52D: Weird Al Yankovic Parody of the Kinks's "Lola") in the grid today. But I'm going to consider Yoda to be a Weird Al reference because I will always take the time for Weird Al.
Weird Al is currently fighting Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel (with Ben Folds Five and Marvelous 3 just behind) for "artist I've seen the most times live." If you've never seen his "Yoda Chant" do yourself a favor and check it out:
I love seeing DEAD ASS (34D: Seriously, in modern slang) and LAUDANUM (38D: Opium product used by Anna Karenina and Victor Frankenstein) right next to each other made me giggle. SQUARE UP (20A: Settle a bill) also stood out for me, though I couldn't say why. I also really loved both the answer and clue for GET USED TO IT (5D: End of a gay pride slogan) even if "We don't want anymore bears" didn't fit like I wanted it to:
Simpsons reference achieved!
Trying to find something to nitpick.... I guess ECRU (3D: Natural shade) and PDAS (32D: BlackBerrys, e.g., for short) are a little tired, but that's pretty forgivable. So, yeah, I had a blast solving today, and these days, I'll take any enjoyment I can get. Thank you, Rachel, for sending me into the weekend in a great mood!
Stray Thoughts:
- 13A: Sea Creature known to mourn its dead (ORCA) — Very fun piece of trivia, but for me, there is only one Orca:
 |
| Jaws forever! |
- 36A: Worst of all imaginable chronologies (DARKEST TIMELINE) — For a show that was constantly struggling to avoid cancellation, Community sure did have a big impact on the pop culture lexicon. And deservedly so! #sixseasonsandamovie
- 22A: Georgia hometown of R.E.M. and the B-52s (ATHENS) — I've spent some time in Athens, GA and it's a very cool town. In addition to the icons noted in the clue (and the University of Georgia), it is also home to Creature Comforts brewing (I have a t-shirt repping their Tropicalia IPA). But really I'm only highlighting this as an excuse to post some R.E.M.
Are you talking REM, RE: Me?
****MORNING EDIT****
Hi again! I can't believe I forgot to mention that constructor Rachel Fabi is also one of the creators/editors/guiding voices behind These Puzzles Fund Abortion, a series of puzzle packs created around the belief that everyone should have access to safe and affordable abortion care. TPFA6 just launched and is available HERE. For $25 recommended donation, you get access to a fantastic pack of puzzles created by some of the best in the business. It's always one of my favorite projects of the year. In fact, I'm going to go make my donation right now!
****END OF EDIT****
Ok, I think that's all I've got for today. I went heavier on the videos than I'd anticipated. Rafa will be joining you tomorrow, so have fun and have a great weekend!
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[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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15 minutes for me at 10 pm, right when it came out, so “medium”. Enjoyed the big grid spanners, lots of whoosh! Wide ranging answers… from LORDITOVER and GRANTORINO to LAUDANUM and IWANTCANDY. Do we call it “StarWars” when YODA is clued with a Weird Al clue???? (I guess we still do…. Oh well—oops, forgot about HAN, so it’s a moot point). Enjoyed being reminded about Holst’s “The Planets” again—hoping OFL will post a portion (thanks for the video, ELI, that wasn’t exactly the version I was imagining!). And enjoyed learning “DEADASS”…. Thanks for this terrific Friday puzzle, Rachel!!!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMedium. Nice bit of crunch for a Friday. I found it a bit more challenging than @Eli did, and I agree with all his praise for the puzzle and the constructor. I liked that the longer downs were very much in-the-language. The grid-spanning across, not so much.
* * * * _
Overwrites:
DATABAse before BANK at 4D
I was so sure that eaRTH was the thing going around in 9D that I temporarily removed the unassailable ENOKI from 14A
Kick before KNEE for the Beckham clue at 31D
min before SEC for the day fraction at 37D. No excuses; my arithmetic skills are better than that.
Rinse(?) before RE-OIL at 40A. I know you're not supposed to use water on cast iron, but maybe seasoning can start with a rinse?
At 49A, off the W in ROW (43D) I guessed wah-Wah, a favorite expression of a friend of mine. No, it was GROW UP.
WOEs:
The song I WANT CANDY, as clued at 11D and ATHENS as clued at 22a
I didn't know DARKEST TIMELINE as a crossword-worthy phrase (36A)
I didn't like "Start to season" as the clue for RE-OIL (40A). If you're RE-oiling, you've already started.
Re: REOIL, both carbon steel and cast iron are generally coated in oil at the factory to prevent rusting, so I guess even the first seasoning is technically "re-oiling." But I agree it's a bad clue
DeleteThe highlight is the crossing spanners - overall it trends a little flat for a late week puzzle. The segmented corners bring the short stuff that doesn’t seem to fit. No real pushback anywhere - representative difficulty for a Friday. The word of the day is ATHENS.
ReplyDeleteDreams So Real
I like BRINGER. TAKES A HINT is awkward and LORD IT OVER is just plain ugly. GET USED TO IT and FACILITATOR as vertical longs stand strong - TAPER, HAN, SNORE are all cutely clued.
Widespread Panic
Pleasant enough Friday morning solve but this one BRINGS UP THE REAR compared with last Friday’s gem.
Panties In Your Purse
Ah, yes. Aaron Carter. Another child celebrity eaten up and then spit out by the same celebrity culture that created him.
ReplyDeleteI have a faint memory of hearing DARKEST TIMELINE, but no way in heck is it enough of a phrase to warrant the prime position it gets today. But the rest of the puzzle was fine and dandy.
ReplyDeleteI knew about Athens from the B-52s, but had no idea about R.E.M. Another band from Athens is Supercluster. If you ever have a chance to see them live, don't.
I didn’t know DARKEST TIMELINE as a a crossworthy phrase either, but Google tells me that it is a cultural reference originating from the TV show Community (Season 3, Episode 4, "Remedial Chaos Theory"), which has come into popular parlance. Seems fair, even if I didn’t know it, and I appreciate puzzles teaching me interesting phrases I didn’t know. See also DEAD ASS.
Deletefound this very easy (probably helped to be gen z and very slang fluent) but not an easy of drudgery… instead i wooshed about! probably shouldn’t be a friday puzzle but i guess that’s nyt now
ReplyDeletethanks for a great fun puzzle Rachel!
Lest we forget Bow Wow Wow's version of I Love Candy, which I saw live at The Mud Club in, I believe, 1981.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is I WANT candy.
DeleteBow Wow Wow should have been the clue for IWANTCANDY!
DeleteHey All !
ReplyDeleteRachel was Rex's collaborator on his solving videos, remember those? So I was prepared for a glowing review regardless of how the puz was. Turns out, he's not doing today's critique. Eli still has an affinity for her, so we get a nice review.
I liked the puz overall. A couple of odd clues in here, though. KNEE for "Bend it like Beckham!"? "50, on a table"? (Oh, wait, just got that one. Periodic Table, apparently.) REOIL for "Start to season, as a skillet"? That'd be better as "Smooth out the bowling lane" or somesuch.
Anyway, like I said, nice overall, got yer required ASS in, nary a dreck (well, maybe PARTB.) Time to GLOP, BOP and HOP away
Have a great Friday!
No F's - An example of DARKEST TIMELINE
RooMonster
DarrinV
@Roo, I had Kick before KNEE but figure Beckham bends his knee before kicking.
DeleteI didn’t like the Beckham clue because I think that the “bend it” in that phrase refers to the arc of the ball not the knee.
Delete@Anon 9:12, Exactly!
DeleteYes that’s why it’s a Friday clue
DeleteThis. It’s almost as if the constructor has heard the title of the film but never learned what’s behind the title.
DeleteThink about Sir David Beckham. It's a proper Friday clue in an otherwise very Wednesday puzzle.
DeleteSo, at 11:10 I commented, in agreement with Anon 9:12, that "bending" associated with Beckham was related to the arc of his signature shot. I did not know he had been knighted, a ceremony that includes bending the knee to the reigning monarch., Doh! Better clue/answer combo than I thought.
DeleteBeckham was also knighted last year, so he “bent the knee.”
DeleteThe only inetpertation, IMHO, that's makes it a good clue is if it refers to Sir David being knighted. The operant phrase is "bend the knee to", as when one is knighted.
DeleteHaha…my ONLY solace on this is I’m not the only one who didn’t think of Beckham being “knighted.”
DeleteOf course! Now I'm remembering that 2002 film "Bend It Like Beckham", in which he was knighted.
Delete@Eli -- That DARKEST TIMELINE video is a hoot!
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like Rachel relied on quite a bit of trivia and pop culture, but it sounds like it was all firmly in Eli’s wheelhouse, so maybe this is just a younger person’s puzzle. The other clues and answers were all pretty reasonable, so a good job by Rachel keeping it manageable.
ReplyDeleteThe clue for PRONG was a tough one, and getting from David Beckham to KNEE was borderline groan worthy. I would have gone with “Lorded Over” instead of LORD IT OVER. I’m wondering if that is an idiom or some type of generational thing that has passed me by, perhaps?
SJ [sigh]. I fail to see how THIS puzzle in any way, shape, or form is a “younger person’s puzzle.” The original IWANTCANDY song was 1965 and if inferable by the clue. Weird Al and Yoda have been around forever. I guess your other “trivia” is history and books?
DeleteAs a millennial this was squarely in my wheelhouse. I'm old enough to love Weird Al and REM, young enough to know online-isms like "darkest timeline".
DeleteI've heard "lord it over" as well, as in "yes, you got a better score than me, but you don't have to lord it over me."
@B - I would include Clint Eastwood, Gal Gadot, Storage Wars, a movement from “The Planets”, Weird Al, Star Wars, Greek or Roman Mythology, Candy Bars, David Beckham and The Darkest Timeline. Nothing egregious or off the wall, and as I mentioned, I thought Rachel did a good job keeping it balanced.
Delete@anon 10:07…I am a Boomer. Ya know what? I’m totally on board with things being in a Millenial wheelhouse. @SJ…I dunno. The only thing I felt might be a little “niche” was DARKESTTIMELINE. But…I guess we just have different views on what constitutes a perfect xword. I will cross my fingers that you find yours.
DeleteEvery time I turned a corner in the box I ran into a word or phrase that hit an inner happy button. Things that, for instance, looked or felt silly (GLOP, GIRTH, PRONG), or had a zingy ring (GO BIG, SQUARE UP, LORD IT OVER), or were delightfully conversational (ON A POSITIVE NOTE, GROW UP, GET USED TO IT).
ReplyDeleteSo, Rachel beautifully filled the grid. She also skillfully designed it with remarkable flow -- no isolated areas -- which brought me plenty of "Whee!" (Xword Info rated today's flow in the 97th percentile of all Shortz-era puzzles.)
I liked seeing BOP / HOP / GLOP, which brings me to pop, and this puzzle shined with it, containing nine NYT answer debuts. That central vertical three-stack – GET USED TO IT, FACILITATOR, and ON A POSITIVE NOTE positively shimmers, with two debuts and one once-before.
These little touches, for me, elevated the puzzle from competent to singular, and the solving from mental exercise to a rich experience. What a joy -- thank you, Rachel!
KNEE ?
ReplyDeleteSir David Beckham
DeleteAs in bend your knee
DeleteSorry I didn’t acknowledge you earlier 8:44…I tend to go “bottom up” on comments and lately, comments come out kind of slow. I had a big D’OH on the Sir Beckham biz.
DeleteI could not possibly put in the answers in under 4 minutes even if I was copying them from a solved puzzle. I want a video of that.
ReplyDeleteA few cringes, but overall (SQUAREly OWE-ing TO the colorful long answers) a fun solve.
ReplyDeleteI WANT CANDY crossing KAT (for which I we first had KIT) was appropriate.
BOP, HOP, GLOP and TOP(S) brought to mind Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss.
Knowing IRAQ (and not Iran) was erstwhile Mesopotamia helped us change Settle Up (despite "settle" being in the clue...duh) to SQUARE UP.
Thought the clue for LIV was odd (versus, say, actress Ullmann), but pretty sure it will be saluted here by... by... oh, what's her name??
DAVinHOP…I did the SAME thing by putting in SettlEUP first even though it was in the clue. And get THIS…I didn’t realize it was in the clue until I read Eli. D’OH
DeleteA really fun Friday from the fabulous Rachel Fabi. Last letter in: correcting KiT to KAT. I should have known to leave that middle square blank till I had the cross.
ReplyDeleteA real WOE for me was DARKEST TIMELINE. I saw and enjoyed the first couple seasons of “Community” but didn’t get to that part, I guess. Thanks, Eli, for making the connection for me.
And speaking of community, Eli, your tuba playing doesn’t have to stop at high school. There are lots of community bands all over the country where you can play great stuff like band transcriptions of “The Planets” in the company of grownups who aren’t ashamed to pursue their nerdy interests. A few years ago I found a cheap used bass clarinet on EBay, and now I have fun playing a part that can barely be heard (thankfully, some would say). Recently we played excerpts from “The Firebird.” What a blast!
I knew laudanum right away, but had no idea how to spell it. So tried sestet before tetrad.
ReplyDeleteSame here…started out with LAUDeNUM.
DeleteEnjoyable solve , below average time. Nice combo of fun clues and answers. 4 stars from me. I might be an easy grader but this is the way I think a puzzle should be. Thanks Rachel
ReplyDeleteI'm not an expert but this one was way too easy for a Friday. About Wednesday level. Maybe I'm getting better but where, I ask, are the tricky clues? Or obscure facts or names that often contribute to difficulty. I see none.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm missing a lot, but I generally don't play the videos in the blog because my wife is sleeping in the next room; but I gather that DARKEST TIMELINE is from a TV show I've never heard of. I needed most of the crosses to get it, but OK. It was a fun puzzle anyway, with lots of great clues. Of course I had Kick before KNEE, but what a thrill to finally get it!
ReplyDeleteHardest part for me was the SW corner, because I misread the clue for LORD IT OVER as singular, and LORDs wouldn't fit; and then I'd never heard of that movie, and the video game "Grand Theft Auto" made me want a D after GRAN. I have heard of the car, though, which saved me in the end.
I never had a BlackBerry, but at the time they were prevalent they were always referred to as "two-way pagers," while Palm Pilots were PDAS. I assumed that meant that they were in different categories--my PalmPilot certainly could not page anyone, and I don't know the BlackBerries could do more than page--but I'm not sure, and maybe 30 (40?) years later, the distinctions have faded away.
The BlackBerry was a PDA that didn’t require syncing with a computer. It eventually morphed to something more like a smartphone but lost that battle.
DeleteJust when I learn that a PDA is something like smooching in public, we're back to Blackberries. Was kind of hoping "blackberries" was some kind of romantic behavior I didn't know about. Oh well.
DeleteEli, how on earth can you finish any Friday puzzle in under 4 minutes? On an easy Monday, when I have no hesitation and am whooshing through, I finish in about 5 minutes. That means you are filling in every clue in under two seconds without any pauses...just incredible!
ReplyDeleteThese supervisors like Eli are amazing Currently in the spring Boswords competition. The puzzles are set to be a bit harder than a typical Saturday. I'm averaging about 14 minutes per solve ; the top scorers are all checking in at 3-5 minutes per puzzle! Incredible!
DeleteI wish all Friday puzzles were like today’s. A joy to solve.🎈🎈🎊🎊
ReplyDeleteEliz thanks for posting that Venture Bros clip, which apparently first aired almost 20 years ago (we old?)... But it still slaps hard. Fun puzzle, fun write-up. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI thought the whole damn thing was just about perfect.
ReplyDelete0 days without a Storage Wars clue
ReplyDeletelol!
Deletelol!
DeleteAmazing.
DeleteFun
ReplyDeleteGreat review Eli and you were so on the money. Yes…an “easy” Friday but so much fun! I say “easy,” but keep in mind I did this in close to half the time of yesterday’s challenging T puzzle. I really liked both and I’m impressed at how many good clues/answers are stuffed into one puzzle today. Like Eli says…how can you begrudge a Star Wars answer when Weird Al is involved?
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel Fabi, I hope to see more of your puzzles soon!
I think I spoke a slightly different lingo than this puz, at times. Worked thru it all, but weren't too sure of stuff like DARKESTTIMELINE, GETUSEDTOIT, TAKESAHINT, DEADASS. REOIL. SQUAREUP. etc.
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoy the challenge, tho.
staff weeject pick: TIN. Nice, sneaky clue.
fave stuff: IWANTCANDY. LORDITOVER. ONAPOSITIVENOTE. HAN clue [Star Wars alert, @RP!]. CIVICDUTY. PRONG clue.
Thanx, Ms. Fabi darlin. Deadass feisty solvequest, at our house.
Masked & Anonymo5Us
p.s.
runt puzzle [Sorry, I couldn't resist this one] ...
**gruntz**
M&A
This was the best Thursday puzzle I've ever solved and I mean that literally. Nothing demonstrates the mental fog I have to solve through better than my dumbfounded amazement when I went to xwordinfo after solving and saw it was actually a Friday puzzle. You'd think the compete lack of a theme and the late week structure would have clued me in at some point but when I solve I very much can't see the forest for the trees and today's trees were fun to get lost in.
ReplyDeleteParts of this were very easy it was the center and the north center that slowed me down. GOBIG and GIRTH came late. I just had no clue on the former and the latter kept hiding behind WIDTH. ENOKI and IKEA sat by their lonesome for most of the solve.
The most out there answer for me was the across grid spanner. It pretty much had to come from the crosses because for me it sounds like the constructor just made it up. Apparently it's from something called "Community ." What do you want I only recently heard that there's this show called "Euphoria " and it stars someone called Zendaya.
I do better with older references even though I remembered "I Want Candy" as a Banana Rama song. Then again the 80s aren't really the old memories.
I noticed a typo in the 34D clue. I think it's supposed to say [Seriously saggy buns, in modern slang] for DEADASS.
ReplyDeleteCan the Beckham answer (KNEE) be meant to refer to the fact that he was knighted?
While you're in ATHENS, if you have any complaints about state highway conditions, stop by the local office of the GADOT. Speaking of ATHENS, I like R.E.M. and the B-52s so much that I'm always LAUDENUM.
Contestant: I'll take Initialisms for $500.
Ken Jennings: HSBC
Contestant: Is DATABANK?
These might not be all that funny, but I want you to know that IRAQ my brain to come up with them.
I found this to be kinda hard. Eli would have had time for dinner and a show between his finish time and mine, but I liked it a bunch. Thanks for the DEADASS good puzzle, Rachel Fabi.
OTOH, I think UDON a pretty good job witch yer quips
DeleteOoh…@ Egs…me thinks you have it on Sir Beckham! D’oh on MY part!
DeleteAppropriate level of Fridayness for me and I was a good deal north of four minutes for my solve time. That's a good thing.
ReplyDeleteMostly smooth sailing, never heard DEADASS, didn't know TETRAD, and knew LAUDANUM from Sherlock Holmes, but how to spell it? Congrats to everyone that can do the Super Bowl winners in order. I sure can't. Needed some crosses to see which PART of Medicare we were talking about, and I would be happy if we had no more references to bending the KNEE. Too much of that going around.
Really enjoyed this one, RF. A Righteous Friday, and thanks for all the fun.
Haha…as a somewhat newbie to Medicare…I put PARTA at first. Thing is…I have traditional Medicare (Part B) and a “Medigap” plan. I sure hope that folks that have to opt for Medicare Advantage (Part C) get ambulance service!
DeleteSo sorry to young people on my blather. At age (we’ll say late 50s) I had an attorney/friend/opponent say that navigating Medicare was harder than any big “case” he’d had. Truer words were never spoken.
@Beezer, I don't envy Americans and the medical bureaucracy. Here in Canada the medical insurance is automatic at all ages, and when you turn 65 there are extra benefits you have to apply for. But it was dead easy for me, just did it online.
DeleteAnd we have a new Canada Dental Plan!... mine just reduced my dental cleaning bill from $170 to $16. But it was a bit of a pain to apply for.
I really enjoyed the puzzle, but the high point of my morning was reading Eli's review - it actually made me grin!
ReplyDeleteI found this to be a truly delightful Wednesday puzzle. Hooray to Rachel! Boo to the editors for running it on a Friday.
ReplyDeleteYes! I came here to say exactly this. A lovely and enjoyable puzzle, but much too easy for a Friday. My time today was faster than any recent Wednesday.
DeleteA Friday I enjoyed (for a change) - not a surprise since it was a puzzle by Rachel. The only WOE I had was LAUDANUM. Thank you, Rachel :)
ReplyDeleteNice shout-out of Creature Comforts! That brewery (and the tropicalia beer in particular) is wonderful.
ReplyDelete@Eli's comment on "natural language" in the. long entries stood out for me - that was one thing I enjoyed about solving the puzzle, as just a pair or trio of letters could evoke the entire phrase. Whoosh!
ReplyDeleteI liked LAUDANUM crossing SNORE and adjacent to the one-step-further DEAD ASS (overdose). No idea about I WANT CANDY or DARKEST TIME LINE. Moment of doubt: a network beginning with AA...? I always forget about a possible AND.
Easy and easier than Wednesday’s for me.
ReplyDeleteBRINGER and I WANT CANDY were WOEs and CIVIl before CIVIC was it for costly erasures although I do keep making typos which eat up nanoseconds and are annoying.
No junk and plenty of long sparkly stuff, like it.
Wow, thought this a good puzzle but not at all easy for me. Had never heard of DARKESTTIMELINE and actually started with DireconsequEnces. Also POPed in eaRTH instead of GIRTH, so was off to a bad start in all directions. And I really wanted ONAhappierNOTE. But congrats to the constructor and to those who aced this one.
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad someone else listened to R U Talkin REM Re Me (and hopefully U Talkin U2 To Me as well)
ReplyDeletewhy is 50 on a table tin?
ReplyDeleteAtomic number 50 in the periodic table.
Delete@Anonymous 11:28 am, tin is number 50 on the periodic table of elements.
DeletePeriodic table, tin's atomic number is 50
DeleteSo have we stopped caring about dupes like SQUARE UP & GROW UP? Have the rules changed?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 11:32 AM
DeleteAbout dupes. As far as I can remember Shortz has allowed dupes. I don’t know if he ever had a rule against them The point is so many commenters still believe there is such a rule which confuses things. Rex also doesn’t like them and complains about egregious ( his word) dupes.
Played "medium" for me (which places it over ten times Eli's solve time), and I enjoyed the time. The long answers actually slowed me down today; usually I get the long answers fairly early on and the rest of the puzzle falls into place. But not today. I am one of several today for whom DARKESTTIMELINE was a random phrase.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting Rex to like GO BIG ... but apparently he decided to GO home.
I liked it. For me it was a little chewy, and fun. Most of the phrases were very natural, though I’ve never heard of the darkest timeline and have no idea what Communication is. But I got them from the crosses. There were good clues for KAT and TAPER. A nice Friday puzzle.
ReplyDeleteEasiest Friday for me in a long time. Flew through this one. No hang-ups. Barely a slow-down. Didn't even see some of the answers until I was done. Would have preferred a little fight but still a pleasure to solve. 10:58.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the puzzle overall, but having Mars, the BRINGER of War crossing DARKEST TIMELINE felt a little close to home right now (I teach at a Catholic college, so the US president’s dispute with the pope is all over my social media). But ON A POSITIVE NOTE, I really appreciate how interesting and sparkly the answers were (including those ones).
ReplyDeleteThis was a nice, typical Friday puzzle. Only my Ares as a cReatoR of war caused any problems, and then, not much.
ReplyDeleteSo Beckham bends the KNEE, but to whom? Kidding, I was expecting some sort of soccer move there so KNEE was a bit of a surprise.
I had ON A Pleasenter NOTE in mind but that would never fit in the 6D space so good thing I didn't try to wedge it in.
Is DARKEST TIMELINE a known phrase? It's new to me.
Rachel Fabi, thanks for a pleasant Friday solve!
I getcha Teedmn. In fact, after reading YOUR post I searched it and got something that may (or may NOT) have to do with the knee…ah well:
DeleteLiteral Meaning (Soccer): To bend the ball is to make it curve, or "bend," in a free kick to avoid the defensive wall and score. This requires a specific kicking technique with the instep, creating a spin that makes the ball curve.
It's hard for me to describe how much I loathe Roman numerals, and never more so than when crossed with random Super Bowl trivia 🤬 (and here it's crossed with whatever GLOP is!)
ReplyDeleteSolid puzzle as expected, with 9 debut entries! The contrasting spanners were great. Earlier this week, I learned that Samuel Taylor Coleridge was addicted to LAUDANUM and wrote the poem "Kubla Khan, Or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment" under its influence, so that helped with the solve. Thanks to Rachel for the puzzle and to Eli for the write-up!
ReplyDeleteEli, I too have trouble believing that anyone could do this puzzle in under 4 minutes! 19 minutes for me which is about average. Lots of juicy answers, but a few incredibly boring clue/answer pairs: PART B, LIV etc. Does anyone except a crazy rabid football fan actually remember the number of a particular Super Bowl? LIV could be a person, the golf league, oh gosh anything else.
ReplyDeleteDARKEST TIMELINE is totally new to me and kinda depressing, considering everything going on now.
Typeovers: DATABASE before DATA BANK is all I can remember from solving last evening.
Eli writes the Rex Parker blog in the Nerdiest, Chillest and Dauphinest timelines. Unfortunately he's only a sub in our sad one.
ReplyDeleteI usually solve at night but I was, as they say in old novels, feeling poorly (cold, allergies, it is spring, after all), so I chose sleep. Odd to solve at 7 am, pre-caffeine, pre-nicotine. But it was fun. Rachel’s puzzles are almost always fun. There were a few things that grated; the Beckham clue, the Super Bowl Roman numeral. But mostly it was a nice way to wake up.
ReplyDeleteI’d say easy-medium, but no where near Eli’s sub-four minute blitz. I may have mentioned this before; I’m an ambler.
Thanks Rachel.
@Les, I think most of us are “amblers.” When I was young I ran track and you couldn’t “amble.” If I get a PB on time in this…I’m like, huh…lookie thar. (I don’t really talk like that). In “middle age” I “competed” in club level tennis. Kind of past ALL that now. Anyway, Eli’s kind of in the “pro-league” of crosswords. And good for him! I doubt I could fill in a grid in 4 minutes with answers provided on a printed completed puz. OH! Maybe if I had some shouting out all ACROSS answers AND I could spell everything. ;)
DeleteSuper easy Friday after a beast of a Thursday. Fun puzzle but NE was sticky for me
ReplyDeleteBOP is a musical genre (well, technically a subgenre, if we consider jazz to be a genre in itself), and I suppose the complex, angular melodic lines and harmonic constructions of some BOP compositions and/or solos could be considered "catchy." That's really a stretch, though, and I'm not aware that the word has ever been used as a synonym/slang term for "catchy tune."
ReplyDeleteActually BOP is used for a catchy tune. It is very popular among young people.
DeleteDoing this puzzle had taught me that if it appears in the puzzle, even though I am not aware of it, the puzzle is usually right.
Like everyone else I really enjoyed this Friday puzzle! For me it was more of a struggle than for you allbut it gradually and delightfully emerged from the bottom up. TIL that TIN is 50 on the periodic table, and TETRAD. Never heard of the Clint Eastwood movie but Bend it Like Beckham is a very fun film!
ReplyDeleteFab Fabi's Wednesday Show
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who feels a sense of pride finishing a Friday or Saturday puzzle, no matter how long it takes, only to then feel a sense of cerebral impotence seeing that somebody can do it in under four minutes? Just me? OK!
ReplyDeleteThe expression is "worst timeline". "Darkest Timeline" is some fiction. PS: REOIL clangs badly. I guess Mars isn't a CRINGER.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 6:59 pm
DeleteThe expression is …….
Bold assertion
Evidence?
A Google search says the expression darkest time line is a thing.
The concept of time lines is a fiction to me but the expression is used so the answer is fine.
I found this very difficult. I blame DATABANK (who says this? It’s a DATABASE) and FACILITATOR (thought it would start FACT-), which I thought were somewhat tortuous uncommon ways to say a common thing. And LORDITOVER? I’ve heard LORDOVER or maybe HOLDITOVER (ones head), but not LORDITOVER.
ReplyDeleteOverall a decent solve but these answers really bugged me. Took ~15 mins, or a few mins past my usual Friday solve time.
Anonymous 7:55 pm
DeleteIn defense of the puzzle
Facilitator is not an obscure expression. Just because I haven’t heard a term, I don’t assume it’s made up or rarely used. Data bank is something I have heard. It Google’s well it is likewise not obscure. Ditto lord it over.
If a puzzle is not in my wheelhouse I don’t blame the puzzle.
I'll join the Amblers Club. I like to look for entries that will send me off on a pleasant reverie. Today it was LAUDANUM (heh). I have an interest in psychoactive substances, professionally and from my own personal TIMELINE.
ReplyDeleteAnother interest as I amble around the grid is the plural of convenience (POC). I did notice a couple of them when TAKE A HINT and GLANCE AT came up short of their slots. Just got a note from the POC Committee and it has been decided the S in GLANCES AT is part of a top notch grid spanning Down and will no longer be counted as a POC. Overall, today's offering showed commendable restraint in leaning on that grid fill friendly, letter-count boosting device.
Interesting competing interpretations of KNEE for 31
"Bend it like Beckham!" I think it's a close call between @egs 9:34 suggesting that the clue is referring to his being knighted and @Beezer's 2:10 thinking that the clue is referring to a kind of kick in soccer. I'm going with the soccer kick. The deciding factor was the exclamation mark in the clue!
Elis' write up is spot on. Yes, "Natural Language" makes for great fill and this one had it in spades. On top of that were two spanners - across and down and I find joy in that.
ReplyDeleteAll the good stuff that everyone else has already said. Thank you Rachel!
Late to the party here. I'd be super grateful if one of you puzzle pros could explain to me 32 across: PRONG = sticker that usually comes in sets of three or four. Is this a convoluted clue for a fork? THere are a lot of sticks in the world that are not forks. I just don't get this one. Thanks for the help!
ReplyDeleteDeja de ser una bebé.
ReplyDeleteSheesk, couldn't remember ENOKI and I had EARTH going around instead of GIRTH, so big slow down there.
I've waited until late in the day to post so hopefully nobody reads this except our late night crowd, and they understand. Here's my thing, this is an okay puzzle, but it also gets the "constructor is my friend" bump. 🦖 would likely have done the same thing, so no shade tossed at Eli, but honestly, with our group's obsession with Fridays being too easy, here's yet another fill in the blank-er. Any other constructor would have brought out our fearless grumble bunny, and the HOST of wannabe grumble bunnies with their weekly "to easy" screed... our weekly weep if you will. I'm perfectly fine with an easy any-day puzzle, but I haven't gotten any sour dough starter from anybody so here's my sour grumbles.
Medicare subsection. Ugh. You have a legit Athens and a crummy Athens. It's Friday, go with the crummy one and then use gunk to define gunk. BITSOF. Seriously, who wrote the clue for PRONG? Star Wars! Actually I am fine with Star Wars clues, but I like piling on. If DARKEST TIME LINE is a show, maybe clue it that way? As it is, it seems like a non-thing clogging up a lot of real estate. REOIL. AANDE. CIVIC DUTY. OTOH. I actually know what a seventh chord is, and defining it as a TETRAD is correct-ish, but it wouldn't narrow it down to seventh chords, just every four-note chord in the world and there are lots. A Roman numeral for a Super Bowl clue. At what point does a noodle become a chewy noodle? DATA BANK and FACILITATOR, yeeshk. The phrase Aaron Carter should have resulted in an automatic eject from all further work on this puzzle. I don't think I've ever heard the present tense phrase LORD IT OVER, but I suppose you can lawyer it into existence. And, OMG, Beckham's KNEE? That is not what you bend it like! I wondered what date the New York Times crossword puzzle puts on the word "modern" as DEAD ASS seems like it's in the puzzle less for its modernity, and more for its ASS-ity. And finally, I don't know anything about chess, but somehow sacrificing a pawn doesn't feel like a gambit. Sacrificing your queen does. Maybe I'd like a bit more drama in my gambits.
It hurts my heart to think about ORCAS. We shouldn't be allowed in the oceans.
❤️ GO BIG. GLOP. Negative Nancy and Debbie Downer. GET USED TO IT. Mars, the BRINGER of War. HOP-n-BOP. Learning how to spell LAUDANUM.
People: 5
Places: 2
Products: 8
Partials: 4
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 21 of 70 (30%)
Funny Factor: 2 😕
Tee-Hee: A live ASS.
Uniclues:
1 Host a nerd convention in super-famous Vermont town.
2 Cannibal's treat at an Oscars after-party.
3 What the Anonymoti tell me on a regular basis.
4 What gets a bookkeeper's motor running.
5 A giant plastic hammer.
6 Nickname of Jedi master who learned the dark side ain't so bad after all.
7 God who sets down his arrows for a box of chocolates.
1 SQUARE UP ATHENS
2 BITS OF HOST
3 GROW UP NAYSAYER
4 DATA BANK ROW
5 BOP FACILITATOR
6 TAKES A HINT YODA
7 I WANT CANDY EROS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Clarified butter, egg yolk, white wine vinegar, and herbs stirred up by a dead guy. ANGEL BERNAISE.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I agree with Anoa Bob anoint the KNEE answer
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle. Loved the TIN clue. Though I got it right away because, 3 letters.
Slang word I didn’t know. BOP It has a very different meaning among young people than among jazz musicians and aficionados. I had no trouble finding catchy in reference to a tune when I googled it after finishing the puzzle,