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Friend of Nancy Drew / FRI 5-15-26 / Edible algae dubbed "green caviar" / Jarring film transition to a new scene / Language of southern India / Mother of Don Juan / Good name for a yoga instructor / Civil rights activist Williams, an associate of Martin Luther King Jr. / Blind followers, informally / Competitor of the early Chevrolet 490 / Big name in meal prep kits / Use of a popular song to make a scene iconic, in film-speak / Vintage bike feature
Friday, May 15, 2026
Constructor: Maddy Ziegler
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium
Word of the Day: TELUGU (41A: Language of southern India) —
 |
| [red = majority or plurality of native TELUGU speakers] |
Telugu (/ˈtɛlʊɡuː/ ⓘ; తెలుగు, Telugu pronunciation: [ˈt̪eluɡu]) is a Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Telugu is a classical language with a recorded history of at least 2,000 years. Spoken by about 100 million people, Telugu is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language family, and one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of the Republic of India // It is one of the few languages that has primary official status in more than one Indian state, alongside Hindi and Bengali. Telugu is one of the languages designated as a classical language by the Government of India. It is the fourteenth most spoken native language in the world. (wikipedia)
• • •
Yes, I learned about TELUGU at (or while preparing to go to) the movies. I then forgot it, obviously, but now I am remembering it. Speaking of movies, man, this puzzle really brings the cinematic content. None of your run-of-the-mill movie stuff, this puzzle's got FRED MacMurray in Double Indemnity (the quintessential film noir) and SMASH CUTs (37A: Jarring film transition to a new scene) and NEEDLE DROPs (55A: Use of a popular song to make a scene iconic, in film-speak) and an APE COSTUME!? You had me at FRED MacMurray, puzzle. Cinematic STUNNERS, everywhere I looked. And then lots of other wonderful stuff as well. That opening corner—I don't love that the clue for HOME CHEF reads like a paid ad, but it's still a good phrase, and its partners, "I'M ALL EARS" and "LET ME AT 'EM," are even better. Usually, if I'm compelled to take a screenshot early in a puzzle, it's because the fill is so bad and I feel the need to document it. But today, the opposite. I said "nice" out loud and decided, "you know, I should take a snapshot of niceness, for once."
And then there was "IT'S UP TO YOU," ROGUE WAVE, BACKWOODS, VACANT LOT, LIVE WIRES ... the puzzle delivers on all fronts. The only objection I had along the way was to APE COSTUME ... not to the thing itself, but to the phrasing. I feel like APE SUIT is le mot juste (are les mots justes?). I had APE and immediately thought "how am I going to make SUIT stretch to seven letters." I do like that APE is underneath BANANA, though. Very nice touch.
Bullets:
- 16A: Good name for a yoga instructor (MATT) — cute. I had the terminal "-T" and sincerely (if briefly) thought "... BENT? Are guys named BENT now?" (Bengt, yes, BENT, probably not)
[in which Bengt Ekerot plays Death]
- 1A: To the ___ (as much as possible) (HILT) — MAX! NTH! NINES! It took at least (1 2 3) four stabs at this thing before I got it right.
- 20A: Civil rights activist Williams, an associate of Martin Luther King Jr. (HOSEA) — no idea. A simple biblical clue would've made this easier (for me) but the puzzle was already so easy (for me) that I didn't mind getting slowed down by a mystery proper noun here or there ("there" being TELUGU and BESS).
- 6D: Mother of Don Juan (INEZ) — not sure I'll ever learn whether this is INES or INEZ, but luckily today I had the "Z" in place (thanks to ELIZA) (19A: Miss Doolittle of "Pygmalion").
- 24D: Setting for the graphic novel series "Persepolis" (IRAN) — yet another way in which this puzzle seemed custom-made for me. I'm finishing up grading for my Comics class just this week, and I (literally!) gave away my copy of Persepolis to a curious student last week.
- 34D: Break the ice? (THAW) — thawing seems like a completely different phenomenon from breaking, but I guess ice does break up during a spring THAW so ... OK!
- 38D: Blind followers, informally (SHEEPLE) — I thought this was going to be some poker terminology ("blind" is a poker term, right?) (yes). But no, "blind followers" are "those who follow blindly," thus, SHEEPLE. Speaking of people who act like sheep—or vice versa, I guess—looks like I'm going to be seeing The Sheep Detectives this weekend. When I saw the trailer, I was a very hard "no," but friends, and especially this Defector review, have convinced me to push through my extreme reluctance and just go. So I am going to give the talking-sheep movie a try. I do teach a crime fiction course from time to time, so ... maybe it will be relevant. Fingers crossed!
That's all. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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95 comments:
23:09 for me last night—so that’s medium-challenging on a Friday. NEEDLEDROP, SEAGRAPES, and HOMECHEF were all WOEs for me but inferable/getable with crosses. [Posted w/o reading @REX, so if I'm repetitive, pardon that]. Enjoyed ITSUPTOYOU, LIVEWIRE, and especially BANANASEAT…. I never had a true BANANASEAT bike but I had a “Chopper” with the little 16 inch wheel in front and the bigger knobby 20 inch wheel in back. I loved that thing. HILT (as clued) for some reason took me absolutely forever to see. Also, the connection between VACANTLOT and its clue seems a bit tenuous. Had APEmansuit before APECOSTUME but EAMES and STEAL corrected that fairly quickly. Enjoying the story as I review the grid this AM… FRED’s SMASHCUT BEGAT SHAKES and an EWW out of me… during the next eerie scene, you could hear a NEEDLEDROP…. But before it was OVER, the OGRES had made a complete MESS! Anyhoo, thanks for a pretty challenging Friday, Maddy, I loved this puzzle : ) **** from me.
I'm no movie buff so Medium for me. Good amount of crunch for a Friday.
* * * * _
Overwrites:
At 3D, LEmME AT 'EM before LET ME.
My 4D boom was caused by an ssT before TNT.
WOEs:
Didn't remember HOSEA Williams (20A).
The edible algae SEA GRAPES at 32D.
The jarring transition SMASH CUT at 37A.
Nancy Drew's friend BESS at 39D.
The TELUGU language at 41A.
NEEDLE DROPS at 55A.
BACKWater before BACKWOODS, and I don't go to Indian cinema and while I've been doing crosswords for at least 40 years--a lot of my friends had BANANA SEAT bikes--I don't recall ever seeing TELUGU. SEA GRAPES, SMASH CUT and NEEDLE DROPS were all inferable from the crosses. I enjoyed this far more than yesterday's. Agree with @Rex 100%.
Hand up for SST before TNT....
Inez crossing Eliza was a natick for me. Had a DNF since I assumed it was IneS/EliSa. Bleh
Oh, man, there's beauty in the box today: LIVE WIRES, NEEDLE DROP, LET ME AT ‘EM, ROGUE WAVE, SEA GRAPES, SMASH CUT, APE COSTUME. Those last five are NYT debut answers, by the way.
All these answers are longs – eight letters or more, of which today’s puzzle has a sky-high 16 – which have the potential to invigorate a puzzle, and they sure do today.
Then Maddy throws in a contronym – a word with two opposite definitions – with CLEAVES. Language-quirk-loving me adores contronyms, such as sanction, ravel, splice, garnish, oversight.
The solve gave me areas of whoosh, and spots of struggle, both of which happify my brain. And two TILs, both worth knowing: TELUGU and SEA GRAPES. Plus an original clue for MODEL T.
This is Maddy’s second Times puzzle. After her first, also a themeless, I commented that this was a constructor with potential. Today’s entry solidifies that suspicion, and Maddy, I hope they keep coming. Thank you – I loved this!
And another hand up for SST
Ugh. I don't think I've ever disagreed more with Rex's rating.
SMASH CUT and NEEDLE DROP and HOME CHEF I'll be perfectly happy to never see again.
I do agree with his difficulty assessment, though. Whooshed through most of this before hitting the center/east section, which did at least provide some difficulty. Unfortunately, way too much of the puzzle's attempt to add difficulty was either due to names (HOSEA, INEZ, ELIZA, READE, FRED, BESS) or niche movie terms.
Hey All !
Got slowed down in a couple of sections. VACANT LOT one of them. Took a minute for the ole brain to grasp that one. You know, VACAtions fit there ...
SEA GRAPES are new here. Along with spelling ROGUE as ROUGE (every time!) made that section dubious.
Overall a nice FriPuz. Stirred up the ole brain enough, without it begging for mercy. Although TELUGU came close.
©Uniclue:
Blind followers 2x2?
EVEN SHEEPLE
Welp, hope y'all have a great Friday!
One F
RooMonster
DarrinV
Pretty smooth sailing till I got to the SE, which I entered with a long answer that was also a wrong answer. Never noticed that SEAGRAPES has the same number of letters as Spirulina. That took a while to rip out.
I was today years old when I learned that there’s a language called TELUGU. Last word in.
Nice work, Maddy Ziegler!
I’m still scratching my head over the clue for VACANT LOT. I’ve heard people say “Here goes nothing!” in a YOLO kind of way before doing something daring, but I’ve never heard anyone shout “VACANT LOT” before kicking back a shot of tequila or something. Rex didn’t even give it a mention, so I’m probably overlooking something obvious. Anyone else stumped by that one?
The section with TELUGU and SEA GRAPES was pretty much a black hole for me as well. I don’t know what a CISTERN or a ROGUE WAVE is either, so I wasn’t so much swimming upstream as I was flying blind there.
I definitely found this one too be tougher than the typical Friday has been recently, mostly due to my ignorance about the answers (although I guess it’s difficult to judge the degree of difficulty in the clues when they are referencing things I don’t recognize, like SEA GRAPES).
Rex was a bigger fan than me; chalked up to the heavy cinematic content (his words). We had more of a mixed bag appraisal.
We blindly filled in INEZ from just the Z of ELIZA. What else could ___Z be? So we got a foothold up top.
Blindly entered HOME CHEF (never heard of it) with a few crosses.
And blindly entered the final G (last entry) for the "no idea" cross of TELUGU and SEA GRAPES. G fit better than D as drapes aren't generally edible.
My "blind" obsession here refers to the thought that SHEEPLE could have been clued "Fox News watchers". Something has to explain how, in light of the serial disasters following everything this administration touches, the criminal narcissist still is favored by 30% of the country. Astonishing.
Easy-Medium for me too. No real whoosh to write home about, just a little like IT'S UP TO YOU and LET ME AT 'EM and BACKWOODS. Just enough pushback to keep it interesting.
I saw the byline and thought "Wait -- isn't that the name of the former child dancer on that dancing reality show who later achieved actual recognition for her dancing?" Indeed, that show was Dance Moms on Lifetime. (I think there was a lot of "karenting" on that show.) But no, the dancer's name is spelled "Maddie".
TELUGU was known to me simply because my mind picks up on words with unusual or exotic spellings. The only question was whether it had one E and two Us or two Es and one U. (Do any of you find that your spelling skills seem to get less and less secure as you get older?) ROGUE WAVE was certainly not immediate (and I barely recognize it as a phrase). SEA GRAPES I know from... god knows where.
BANANA SEAT -- what a throwback.
I was wondering whether we'd hear about SHEEPLE in Rex's review. It seems to me that the vast majority of the time, it comes from the mouths of conspiracy theorists, typically in the MAGA mold, who believe Fauci is at the center of some deep state government plot where they're injecting nanobot spies through vaccinations, or whatever it is they want you to believe.
Someone here will remember the term for a word that has two almost diametrically opposed meanings. Today's word is CLEAVES, which can mean both "splits apart" and "sticks to".
Anyway, it was a good puzzle. Appreciate it, Maddy with a y Ziegler.
I somehow conflated a magic wand with a CANE, which made SEA GRAPES and thus TELUGU tough to infer, as I had never heard of either of them.
Thanks to LIVEWIRE I have the song Psycho Killer in my head.
How a climber becomes limber: CLEAVES
What Tiger's fans do at tournaments and in traffic court: BACKWOODS
Firefighter's first resort: HOSEA
I'M ALL EARS, not to be confused with "I maul ears," as Mike Tyson could say after his infamous Holyfield fight. Amazingly, even after it was discovered that Tyson bit off part of Holyfield's ear, the fight was not stopped! Tyson was merely penalized two points. Only when he went after the other ear was it halted. (I'm not joking.)
Mrs. Truman, as a student at Miss Barstow's Finishing School for Girls in Kansas City, which she attended after high school, and where she was on the women's basketball team: BESS in class.
BTW, the NYTXW is not the only place where you cannot escape STAR WARS. My wife and I went to the Mets-Tigers game yesterday at Citi Field and it was Star Wars Day. The force was clearly with the home team as they hit five dingers in a 9-4 win.
Ditto all the comments/woes from @Rex and @Conrad, except I did go straight to TNT. And had a hard time getting the last two letters of SHEEPLE. First response on car was the second MODELa, the car in which I first learned to drive, because I didn’t think Chevvy’s were around before that. Some ancient history there…
Those terms aren’t “niche” esp needle drop
A vacant lot is an area where nothing was built, so nothing went there
A vacant lot is an area where nothing is built so nothing goes or went there
My mother learned to drive in a Model A!
Top notch today - perfectly crafted late week grid. I’m down with the big guy - that SE quadrant tested me - ROGUE WAVE was fine but SEA GRAPES x TELUGU and even the musty BEGAT was rough.
The Menzingers
CLEAVES, BANANA SEAT, APE COSTUME, NEEDLE DROP - it’s loaded with fantastic fill. BACKWOODS x SMASH CUT is all time great.
IT’S UP TO YOU
SHEEPLE is highly unfortunate. Other than that the overall fill is trivia light and smooth.
Howard Devoto
Outstanding Friday morning solve.
Three Girl Rhumba
Pretty tough for me. The only things I was really sure of were ELIZA and CISTERN. Everything else I had to work from crosses; I didn't know the movie jargon, and couldn't remember TELUGU until I had the TEL. And we spend a few weeks every March in SW Florida, where SEA GRAPES are small trees that grow along the beach; never heard of the algae.
I did like seeing 'EM, after yesterday's DEM's.
Once I was finally finished, I admired the puzzle, it was just hard to get there.
Not me. I had the N from omen filled in first so it was easy to deduce TNT
I did the same. To the point that I had to come here to see why the chimes wouldn't ring. Clearly shouldnt have let SEAGRAnES pass, but there I was.
Is Maddy Ziegler the same person who was on Dance Moms and did Sia videos?
Don Juan the Italian led me to the “S” also. I assumed my dnf was TELUGU
A shorebird whose species identity is the same as that assigned at hatching would be a CISTERN.
Chef: Where ya goin' after work?
Sous Chef: HOMECHEF.
Do sun-dried SEAGRAPES become ocean currants?
Between 30A and 39A, I figured one had to BELABORS and one had to BEGAT.
Trying to fake like I speak French, I'll saunter into a wine bar and say "I NEEDLEDROP de vin rouge." This is not to be confused with @ Southside Johnny's vin ROGUE.
This was no GRIND for me. A whoosh or two, a bit of head scratching and a lot of fun. Thanks, Maddy Ziegler.
Contronym is the word you’re looking for.
And the left has as many shepherds as the right. The term is politically neutral. It refers strictly to an unthinking, mob mentality where people follow a an idea, fad, or idea without examining its veracity or worth.
Had to guess at BESS/TELUGU but got the happy music so I guess that’s okay
Same Maddie @tht…😉
When the clue has an exclamation and no quotes, it’s one of those self-referential cryptic deals. In this case, “nothing” is what goes in a vacant lot.
SEGUE crossing SMASHCUT was a nice touch.
A bit tougher than normal for me (about 110% of my Friday average).
I agree that APESUIT is the better phrase, but am I the only one that thinks LEMMEATEM is more appropriate than LETMEATEM?
Even with the VACANT part fully in, it took me forever to get 7D. The clue really threw me. The 'goes' in the clue made me think the answer would be something moving (e.g., a 'Beat it' clue refers to a DRUM, which is something you beat, so I assumed 'Here goes...' referred to something moving). I guess the 'goes' in the clue is referring to the clue itself?
Same for me. A frustrating end to an otherwise great puzzle.
Wow. This was a puzzle that, when I finished, searched the constructor before I came to blog because…I thought…how old is this person with FRED MacMurray, and Nancy Drew clues? (Or has the Nancy Drew series been severely updated?). A 23 year old talented dancer, actress, AND crossword constructor.
That info also explains the film terminology I was unfamiliar with, but was ultimately inferable.
Agree with everything Rex had to say, other than that.
Great puzzle Maddy Ziegler!
Anon @9:40 - thanks. Your explanation helps. I’ll take note of that cluing convention for future reference.
The first thing I noticed when done was the lack of crossword-ese which I know is a common complaint for these puzzles. Perhaps more for themed puzzles? Either way, every answer felt legit, with the right level of difficulty for a Friday and all either gettable or inferable. Had wAnd before CAPE. bReaD before GRIND. cHeW before THAW. tidal before ROGUE (WAVE). Fun start to a Friday morning. 18:22
A minute longer than yesterday's solve so this just barely made the difficulty progression. Mostly it was an easy solve with the exception of that SE corner. SEAGRAPES, TELUGU and BESS were all unknowns and I also had a BEGOT/BEGAT write over. Luckily I've finally learned how to spell ROGUE.
Another stumbling block in the solve was my SMASHOUT/SMASHCUT write over. I thought it might be the opposite of a fade out. Luckily the SW was just as easy as the NW and I was able to back fill those two trouble spots.
Post solve I went on a Google search to learn the Don Juan /INEZ connection that xwords have pounded into my brain. It's from the Lord Byron poem "Don Juan". To me it's just reflexive crosswordese.... sad.
This was an entertaining solve. The constructor is a natural.
A rare DNF for me. Didn't know Telugu or Reade/Duds (?) and the NW corner I just couldn't get anywhere with. Never heard of Home Chef and I thought dog howling at night had to be wolf. Omen for that one was just bad. 2 and 3 down were just hard to get anywhere with without the acrosses, and I never heard of wych elm, though it was one of my guesses. Otherwise I liked it a lot
@Rex - what a perfectly, perfect way to describe a solving experience - "That answer was like a wet bar of soap and I kept thinking I had it and it kept popping out of my hands." So spot on. Exactly how I feel so often in a solve but could not put into words until now. Thank you for that!!
I liked this puzzle a great deal. A good mix of things I was able to throw down right away along with the tough stuff that made me work (sometimes very) hard.
Like others, the SE took some muscle. My Magicians accessories were *wand*, *cage*, *cane* before the correct CAPE. TELUGU is unknown to me along with SEAGRAPES. Maybe I knew what a ROGUEWAVE was at some point but it was not front of brain today. That neighborhood took some guessing along with a LOT of time, but looking at it now, very nice. So well worth all the effort.
Plenty I did not know but happy to learn. A couple of very cool new words for me like SMASHCUT, NEEDLEDROP and SHEEPLE.
The NE stack dropped pretty easily and they all look properly lovely in the grid.
Loved the everyday language of IMALLEARS, LETMEATTEM and ITSUPTOYOU.
30D gave me some trouble as I had hOODS in there for the last part of the word (made sense) as I threw down *ech* instead of EWW at 45D (Nasty), hence the H. With the cluing for THAW being a little tricky anyway, without the W, that small area had me stymied for a bit.
So much here to like, thank you Maddy! This was a a treat.
@Anon 9:40: Ah, the 7D clue makes more sense now, as in 'nothing goes here'; however, I think it's still not a great clue—a structure can certainly 'go' on a vacant lot to turn it into a developed lot!
Soy todo oídos.
Another tough one for me. So much real estate loaded with No-knows: Wych, ELIZA, HOSEA, McMurray, SMASH CUT, TELUGA, READE, Puss-in-Boots and Hop-o'-My-Thumb, LAPIS, INEZ, ROGUE WAVE, SEA GRAPES.
I see Georg OHM's fan club was here yesterday to take umbrage in his honor against my vicious attacks, so let's go into a multipoint essay on everything wrong with Georg beyond the missing E in his first name. Oh wait, I said nothing about OHM yesterday, but rather I indicted the phrase "physics unit" which still isn't a thing. So, uh, nevermind.
@DAVinHOP yesterday.
People should probably be aware the clown car will not be allowing normal elections this fall as they have no intention of listening to the will of the people, so please know now your passport and citizenship papers for Gunkopolis are being processed each day here at the Gunkamania Embassy.
I should stop by and give the staff downtown a guitar lesson. I don't think they know you often STRUM uncasually.
I'm pretty sure every day is difficult for farmers. And I'm pretty sure hay is hay whether it's BALED or not.
It's a good thing I'm a STUNNER, because I had an @egs-in-real-life moment when I read MO DELT and could not figure out what it was. I think it would be a good rap name Li'l Mo Delt.
❤️ BANANA SEAT. Hot MESS. LET ME AT 'EM. SHEEPLE.
People: 9
Places: 1
Products: 7
Partials: 1
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 20 of 70 (29%)
Funny Factor: 4 🙂
Tee-Hee: BEGAT Puss-in-Boots.
Uniclues:
1 When you see a mullet and tube socks.
2 Ailment of most ukulele players.
3 What you'll never hear from Edna Mode.
4 Deciding what you'll have for dinner every single day for the rest of your life.
5 Pilfer my pretties.
1 BANANA SEAT OMEN (~)
2 STRUM-HEADED (~)
3 "CAPE? IT'S UP TO YOU." (~)
4 HOME CHEF GRIND
5 STEAL STUNNERS
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: How Santa gets a little action. FLUE TRYST.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Started with crossword staple Mr. ENO and went NE-SW-SE-NW, as not being able to come up with HILT made me unable to see anything in my usual starting place. Eventually had to change SLASHCUT to SMASHCUT when LETMEATEM showed up. That competed things although I had left a blank space in TELU__U as I had CANE, and SEA__RANES was going nowhere. Saw CAPE and played myself the happy music, as my print out was its usual silent self.
Finding out about TELUGU and that is spoken by 100 million people is for me like reading the name of some city in China (po. 6 million, or something) that I've never heard of. The stuff you learn from crosswords. See also NEEDLEDROP, HOMECHEF, and today's Duane READE--at least I'd seen him before. And hello BESS. Don't see too many of you around any more.
I enjoyed your Friday offering very much, MZ. Hit me right in the Mirth Zone, and thanks for all the fun.
You certainly did say something about Ohm as it relates to its Wiki entry. Reread your post.
Take the loss.
So, yiu need papers to enter gunkopolis? Huh. Show us your papers sounds like something the Nazis woulld require.
A very enjoyable Friday. I drew a blank in the NW when neither "max" nor "utmost" would fit in 1A, so I moved to the right and started off with LAPIS, INEZ, and ENO --> APE COSTUME and ELIZA, giving me enough traction to piece together the rest. Others have already spotlighted the many gems; I also enjoyed the rarely seen BELABORS and CISTERN and the crossing of STRUM with the jug band's WASHTUB and EAT IN with HOME CHEF.
Do-over: Boondocks before BACKWOODS. Help from previous puzzles: NEEDLE DROP; help from 4th grade reading: BESS. New to me: TELUGU, SMASH CUT.
@Maddy Ziegler, I look forward to your next one!
Thought "initially" Don Juan's mom might have been played by Cameron DiaZ in a movie never, but got IneZ quickly as my Granny's name and my sister's middle name is, wait for it...Maude, just kidding, that was Granny's middle name! Inez with a Z!
I had two errors, BEGOT for BEGAT and CANE for CAPE--three if you count the crossing SEOGRANES. Looked to me at the time like maybe it could be some weird marine plant I'd never heard of, but was unsurprised when I didn't get the congratulations tune
Anon 8:09 who said niche?
Medium for me. The top half was pretty easy but the bottom was tougher.
WOEs - BESS, HOSEA, TELUGU, SEA GRAPES, SMASH CUT…tough bottom half.
Costly erasures - addON before TAG, rIT before NIT (brain fart), and ____ABOut before BELABORS.
No junk and a fair amount of sparkle, liked it.
Eames for a lounge chair?!?
I don't know who in my early life would use the phrase "to the HILT", I'm guessing my Mom, but it was the first thing I thought of at 1A, confirmed by TNT. 1D on the other hand was a no-know even though I've probably seen a TV ad for that product. I pay so little attention to ads, I'm surprised companies even bother to pay for them any more - everyone is trying to FWD through them in any case.
I'm happy that I've spent enough time in NYC's Upper East side, where there seems to be a pharmacy on every other corner, that Duane READE was a gimme. I sure wanted 42D to be "daily bReaD" but never put it in since it didn't go with 42A.
I had a BANANA SEAT bike back in the 70's. It was blue with sparkles. I rode that bike all over town, and no one wore helmets. We were so lucky.
Thanks, Maddy Ziegler, for a nice Friday puzzle with a bit of zing.
Speaking of movies, one of my all-time favorites is the 1966 British comedy "Morgan -- A Suitable Case for Treatment", in which lovelorn David Warner dons an APE COSTUME and crashes the wedding of Vanessa Redgrave. This was my first look at Vanessa Redgrave. I fell in love. I, too, would have crashed her wedding in an APE COSTUME.
Try the book - Three Bags Full. Originally in German but English translation is easily available.
@anon 10:36, I rarely say anything “pointed” in this blog, but I think perhaps YOU need to reread what Gary J said which was:
"Physics unit" sounds like an editor with a Master's degree in literature needed to clue something science-y, and after reading the Wikipedia page for OHM decided all it said was, "Blah blah blah."
Gary was NOT discrediting Ohm. He was opining that the NYT editors put a VERY general clue (physics unit) rather than one a wee bit more specific to Ohm.
Ditto. I failed at the name game.
Not really challenging, although there were several long answers that were Unknown to me. SEA GRAPES and TELUGU were SEA CRANES crossing TELUCU and CANE down there at 54a. And I've heard of a JUMP CUT but not a SMASH CUT, and I've heard of a MIC DROP but not a NEEDLE DROP. But as Rex said, a good puzzle with a lot of good long answers!
Lots of names again today, fortunately only HOMECHEF INEZ HOSEA and BESS were Unknowns. MATT ENO EAMES MODELT ELIZA ADIDAS FRED CASEY were pretty gettable, and sometimes the clue even helped.
Hosea Williams was a great American, one of the leaders of the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act.
It’s really amazing when a fairly hard Friday puzzle was more enjoyable to solve than the so-called easier ones of this past week.🎈🎈🎊🎊
I agree there was lots to like in this first rate puzzle. I smiled at the image of a bass WASH TUB playing in some BACKWOODS jug band hoedown. I'm of the vintage to remember many a NEEDLE DROP followed by a bit of hiss and a click or two and then the glorious full spectrum, high fidelity sound of a favorite vinyl LP record.
Like Ethan @10:47, I had BEGOT for 39A "Sired". This left me with S_O GRAPES for the "Edible algae...". No idea what that might be. SNO GRAPES? When I finally got the BEGAT switch, SNO changed to SEA and I said no way. I see SEA GRAPES all the time down here in deep south coastal Texas. They are trees! An internet check confirmed that multiple times. Here you go, Coccoloba uvifera.
My first entry was at 5D "Material for the blue eyebrows on the mask of Tutankhamen, in brief". I use LAPIS (short for LAPIS lazuli) a lot in inlaid mosaic designs on items in my Etsy shop. It has been prized for ages for its deep blue color. Until modern times, it was used to make "ultramarine" pigment used by painters such as Johannes Vermeer in his Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Vacancies fit there as well. Liked the puzzle, not much dreck for fill. Started very hard for me, after the first 20 or so across clues I only had Eliza & Fred. The NE downs provided some traction and I ended up near my current Friday avg time.
Not an e-z themeless, but I did survive ... if you don't count my CANE/SEAGRANE miscue.
staff weeject pick: COM. Better clue phrasin suggestion:
{Common start in many an address?} = COM.
some fave stuff: The NW & NE corner longball stacks. VACANTLOT clue. TELUGU lingo [URDU lingo is also a fave, btw].
Thanx, Ms. Ziegler darlin. Lotsa intriguin stuff in yer puzgrid, even tho I don't speak TELUGU or SHEEPLE. [I used to know a real nice gal at my offices named Karen Ziegler, btw. A distant relative, maybe?]
Masked & Anonym007Us
p.s.
Runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
I was so sure it was INEs, not INEZ, because I’ve been tripped up by that name before. And I reasoned that Shaw, being a Brit, would choose an S over a Z to spell Ms. Doolittle’s name. I’d outfoxed the constructor. S was correct! Until it wasn’t. First DNF for me in a long, long time.
But I really enjoyed the workout. We have been entertaining house guests for a few days and yesterday was a long one; group breakfast, a walk with the dogs, pile into the car and drive for an hour to our son’s restaurant for a fantastic lunch on the patio, more walking on the North Vancouver waterfront, back in the car and homeward bound we stopped at one of our favourite Italian delis to pick up some Gorgonzola Picante and a frozen eggplant parmesan for dinner, and then home.
I must note that we usually prepare our own food but Cioffi’s makes the best eggplant parmesan - somehow better than ours! I’ve got to get the family tasting panel together and figure this out. I’d like to make it as well as they do.
And there was a delicious chocolate cake - it was my wife’s birthday - with a delicious chocolate ganache frosting from the little Italian bakery down the block from the deli. I’m not a dessert person, but I could eat that once a week, I’m sure.
So by the time dinner was done (almost 10 o’clock) and I headed to my studio to do the puzzle (after too much food, too much wine, and too much witty conversation), I was pleasantly wasted. But it was good. The clue for “Here goes nothing” for VACANT LOT was brilliant. Almost all the long stuff was great and I can’t remember any egregious short fill, possibly because of the mood I was in.
Waiter, I’ll have another Maddy Ziegler puzzle, please.
The Menzingers, what a great band. That album, "On The Impossible Past" is IMO one of the all time rock greats. Another band I love & wonder why they did not get huge, subjectivity I presume.
Anon 10:36, from yesterday's blog ""Physics unit" sounds like an editor with a Master's degree in literature needed to clue something science-y, and after reading the Wikipedia page for OHM decided all it said was, "Blah blah blah."" Do NOT see how this can be read as an insult to Ohm!!
I agree with VACANT LOT, "Here goes nothing!" ??? does not sync for me
I finally got VacantLot. Scratching my head over “tag on” (34A).
@Gary Jugert. If you think you're getting beat up over your attitude toward Georg, just let me warn you to never criticize his cooking. They'll come after you with torches and pitchforks if you don't effuse over OHM's slaw.
Sure. I’d also say that while think the clue works fine, Nothing to see here! might have been slightly better.
100% Ape Suit and Lemme At Em. Replace 16A with MAMA and 4D with TNA
@Anoa Bob, your first paragraph takes me back to my childhood, which of course was pre-cassettes and CDs and all that, so we had a turntable in the living room. Unfortunately the needle was so sensitive that while it was playing, we actually had to walk softly to avoid making it skip!
Shaw was Irish. Thats Irish with an s not a z.
My mother tongue in the crossword!!!
Oscar winner for best song in 2023 from RRR
https://youtu.be/79IEesucPo8?si=qN8Z4d7jDEZIocby
I didn’t say it was an insult to Ohm— today or yesterday. Todayim simply pointing out that Gary did i fact name Ohm contrary to his claim.
Of course Jugert’s insult was aimed at the puzzle editors. Folks he frequentky disparages by inventing motives and meaning with no evidence. He simply makes claims and then pretends to be suprised when he’s called out.
It’s true some folks did misinterpret Jugert’s comments; I was not among them.
Ocean currants, that's so great!
Loved it! Mostly had the "woosh" vibe, but with enough push-back to make it a bit of a challenge. Had the same problem as many others with TULUGU which slowed me down in the middle section, but still came away with a decent-ish (for me) time of 17:55
This was hard for me and not much fun because cinema stuff and autos and names. But I did learn TELUGU and SEAGRAPE and remembered SHEEPLE, so educational I guess
Anon 3:25. You are absolutely right and I am somewhat embarrassed.
Off the initial T, I confidently entered Towel for ‘Throw in at the end’. Totally screwed up my puzzle center.
I had BESS okay, but MODELT was fatal to guessing TELUGU or SEAGRAPE, I've never heard of any of these things
I am wondering the same thing!
We used to eliminate needle skip by taping a coin to the top of the tone arm. Not sure if this was the best thing for the records though.
Since apparently no one has followed up on OFL’s comment about the Sheep Detectives movie, I’ll say that it is a true delight, with appeal for all ages. Don’t miss it if you can!
Agree with most today that this was a well above average Friday, just the right level of difficulty IMO. I too knew TELUGU from
seeing it frequently mentioned of late in local movie listings.
webwinger
Slightly?
@egs Recipe for OHM SLAW:
1 Buy cabbage.
2 Troll Anonymous commenter.
3 Watch him shred said cabbage and pour vinegar over the fun. He'll feel smart.
4 Place concoction into a Physics Unit.
5 Keep cool.
@Teedmn 11:30 AM
I forgot about the BANANA SEAT sparkles! That's a nice memory. Thanks.
Nice!
Sounds like you are having a FANTASTIC time…yay!
The film adaptation of Persepolis is also great!
Well…I tend to get my Eponymous furniture mixed up, so searched it. Looks pretty comfy (with foot rest) for a mid-century to modern piece of furniture…
Ah yes, "contronym". I think I like "enantionym" more, although it's undoubtedly less common. And that spelling reminds me of how Carl Jung, who introduced the term "extravert", preferred that to "extrovert" which is probably the more commonly seen rendering. (I'm sure he would have decried "contronym" as the half-Latin, half-Greek hybrid it is.)
Don Juan is Spanish, Don Giovanni is Italian
Anon 11:09 kitshef (the person Anon 8:09 was responding to) did, at the end of their comment.
Another solid Friday. Firm but fair. Enjoying the recent trend in longer solve times actually. Quality cluing. Earned my respect. Grade: A
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