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Hi, everyone — it’s Clare for the last Tuesday in July! Hope everyone has been having a lovely summer and not getting too hot or having their lungs filled with smoke or drowning in rain or…! I celebrated my 30th (!) birthday this month and also celebrated my dad’s birthday (he’s asked me not to say the number of years😉), and it’s all been quite lovely. I’m extremely sad the men’s World Cup is over, because I haven’t really known what to do with myself or what to watch. But maybe the U.S. Open will save me, or maybe I’ll get back into the swing of things once the WNBA gets back after the All-Star break. Ooh, and I got to see Noah Kahan in concert, and he was incredible; and I see BTS in Baltimore in just 15 days — not that I’m counting the days and hours and minutes or anything! Otherwise, my pup and I have been hiking and staying cool, and she’s as cute and wonderful as ever.
Anywho, onto the puzzle…
Relative difficulty: Medium (mostly because of one letter)
THEME: IT’S NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT (17A: With 58-Across, dad-joke response to the answers for each of this puzzle’s starred clues) — Each of the theme answers has the sound “achoo” in it, which… sounds like a sneeze
THEME: IT’S NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT (17A: With 58-Across, dad-joke response to the answers for each of this puzzle’s starred clues) — Each of the theme answers has the sound “achoo” in it, which… sounds like a sneeze
Theme answers:
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- PATCHOULI (25A: Essential oil with a musky scent)
- MASSACHUSETTS (31A: Home of the lowest town-level ZIP code in the continental U.S. (01001))
- CATCH YOU LATER (38A: "Until next time!")
- STATUETTE (49A: Academy Award, e.g.)
Word of the Day: SAM (59D: Rock singer ___ Fender) —
Samuel Thomas Fender (born 25 April 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in North Shields, Fender released several singles independently beginning in 2017. His sound relies primarily on his traditional American musical upbringing combined with a British rock sensibility. He is known for his high tenor voice and Geordie accent. Recognized for his songwriting style, Fender is the recipient of five Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards and a Mercury Prize, among many others. (Wiki)
• • •
That was a pretty good Tuesday puzzle, mostly in spite of the theme, not because of it. The theme itself just doesn’t feel like a dad joke to me, which I think of more as something related to puns and not just sounds in words? The phrases and words themselves are fine, and it’s impressive that all the achoo sounds are achieved differently, but the theme just didn’t hit me as any sort of dad joke-esque response to each of the theme answers. I didn’t use the theme to help with the solve, as the two parts of the revealer were so split across the puzzle, which might’ve made it slightly more challenging than it otherwise would’ve been for me. I almost had a DNF in the puzzle because of EXCLAVE (43D: Part of a country located entirely within another country) and OXO (48A: Palindromic kitchen brand). I know the brand OXO, and, logically, I knew that there wouldn’t be another ONO in the puzzle given that it was at 18D: 1969 “bed-in” participant. But I typed in “enclave” without thinking, then was stuck searching for my error in the end. I asked my dad and sister what they thought, and they both got stuck for minutes searching for their typo right at that spot there at the end. I’ve since googled it and distinguished an EXCLAVE from an “enclave” for future reference — “An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity,” such as Vatican City, while “an exclave is a portion of a state or district geographically separated from the main part, by some surrounding alien territory,” such as the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, which also borders Armenia, Iran, and Turkey (Wiki). I’ll try to remember this for the future so I don’t add almost a minute to my time searching for an error!
I also struggled a bit with O’DELL (5A: Scott ___, author of "Island of the Blue Dolphins"). I belatedly realized that I actually read "Island of the Blue Dolphins" in grade school, but I sadly had no idea who the author was. CHOCO (50A: __ Taco (ice cream treat)) gave me a little pause. I didn’t even look at the clue for NIP (60D: Alcoholic equivalent of a fun-size candy bar), but I don’t think I would’ve gotten that word from that clue. Those of you not into perfume may also have had trouble with PATCHOULI (25A).
I appreciated the lack of a lot of crosswordese in the puzzle. Sure, we had our ELI (7D: Name that's an anagram of an untruth), ALT (37A: Secondary social media account), YET (40D:
Up to this point), CPA (23A: Tax pro), ANT (28A: Myrmecology subject), ASK (10D: Query), etc. But for the most part, even those were clued a bit differently — and more interestingly — than usual. I learned what myrmecology is with ANT (28A), and I remembered that a secondary social media account is more than just a “finsta” and could actually be considered an ALT (though maybe I just need to study up on my own millennial/Gen-Z slang).
There were also some great words in the puzzle, such as STYMIE (46D: Hinder), HOOPLA (12D: Muss and fuss), and AUTEUR (33D: Artistic visionary). Those are just so fun to say. We got THAT’LL (22D: "___ be the day!") next to OUTTA (27D: "Straight ___ Compton" (1989 N.W.A album)), a clever pairing of slangy contractions. I really liked the clue for CDC (34D: Org. mentioned in many zombie movies); I’ve watched enough zombie and apocalyptic shows to get the answer to that one right away.
Misc.:
Misc.:
- My sister and I hiked the Grand TETONS (20A: Wyoming mountain range) when we were on a cross-country road trip in the summer of 2020. They were absolutely gorgeous. We went on a hike there that took us to maybe the bluest waters I’ve ever seen, and I spent my birthday on a pier overlooking the water before going on a horseback ride.
- I'm currently trying to soothe an ACHE (10A: Be in need of ibuprofen, say) by targeting a KNOT (19A: Massage gun target) right above my KNEE (14A: Word with cap or socks) after I ran seven miles yesterday, my longest run in quite some time! A friend is trying to get me to run the Richmond Marathon in November, but I’m pretty sure my body might break down before I got to that point.
- I was part of the SKI TEAM (1D: Sporting group at a cold-weather school) at a ski academy in Lake Tahoe, and it was most definitely cold weather. One of my strongest memories of that time is being driven to school one morning by my mom, and we for some reason took the shortcut — a road that can be very dangerous. I got to school and had to wade through three-plus feet of snow to get to the entrance. For some reason, I was wearing Uggs that weren’t waterproof. Needless to say, my Uggs were never the same. And my Spanish teacher didn’t even make it for first period anyway.
- As soon as I saw SAM (59D), I knew that he was going to be my word of the day. Some people probably don’t know who he is, but I’ve been absolutely in love with him ever since a cousin introduced me to him a few years ago. My cousin even flew to England to see him in concert, and I tried to get tickets when he came to D.C. a year or so ago, but I wasn’t able to. He has a song now with another favorite of mine, Olivia Dean, that is just crushing the charts in the UK called "Rein Me In." Anyway, my favorite of his is Hypersonic Missiles, if anyone is looking for an incredible and poignant song.
- I think I’ve already talked about these books, but I’ll mention them again because I’ve been having so much fun listening to them (and I’ve gotten my dad hooked, too): Everyone should listen to (or read, I suppose, though the voices in the audio book are wildly good) the Dungeon Crawler Carl series! I’m on Book 7 of 8 and am so hooked. I’ve been using Audible credits to listen to the books and just caved and bought all eight of the physical books, too. They look great on my bookshelf.
Signed, Clare Carroll, writing about dad jokes now that I’m all groan up
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- Pop Sensation (vintage paperbacks)
Exact same error for me although I suspected OXO originally but had changed it for enclave, so was quick to change it back.
ReplyDeleteQuick PSA: My parents were scammed today with the "it's your daughter, I dropped my phone in water but need to pay bills immediately" one - I literally had discussed this scam with them about a year ago and thought they'd be safe but there you go. They catch you off guard. The bank has been able to reverse it so they are lucky. Be careful everyone!
Same here! I was like there must be a glitch!
DeleteMe too. Had to be oxo
DeleteDidn’t know exclave was a word. Only finished because OXO is the usual answer to the palindromic kitchen brand clue. Didn’t get the theme either and I usually enjoy inflicting a dad joke on my kids.
ReplyDeleteMedium.
ReplyDeleteODELL, SAM and EXCLAVE were WOEs and Chi before CEE was it for costly erasures.
The sneezy pun Dad jokes worked for me, liked it.
Well, you could watch some Major League Baseball as an action-packed fast-paced alternative to the World Cup! 🤣
ReplyDeleteHighly unfortunate that you don't appreciate the subtleties and nuances of Baseball; ⚾️ our wonderful game. Yes I also love the World Cup.... Nice and enjoyable puzzle today. Kind of like a good mid summer ballgame.
DeleteNaticked on EXCLAVE, because "enclave" fit the clue (and I never heard of an EXCLAVE). I suspect I was not alone. Otherwise, a fun Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteYou weren’t.Same here. I still liked the puzzle.🎈🎈🎊🎊
Delete
ReplyDeleteHappy 30th Birthday, Clare (and Clare's dad, however old he may be)!!
Easy-Medium. A pleasant Tuesday. I appreciated the wordplay.
* * * * _
Overwrites:
nAg AT before EAT AT for the 50D conscience botherer.
My fun-size alcohol was a sIP before it was a NIP.
WOEs:
Author Scott O'DELL at 5A.
The word EXCLAVE at 43D (but the X was solid with the three-letter kitchen brand so it was easy to infer).
Count me among the people who don't know who 59D Rocker SAM Fender is.
Clare does a nice job summarizing this one - the sneeze sound idea sounds funny until it’s not. Basically solved as a themeless - the revealer is served late and doesn’t assist. The themers - especially CATCH YOU LATER and PATCHOULI are the highlights.
ReplyDeleteAnd the lights all went out in MASSACHUSETTS
Overall fill was fine I guess. Nice to see Scott O’DELL. HOT YOGA, COASTAL and HOOPLA. I’ve skied Squaw Valley and can confirm it is cold. EXCLAVE is a new one for me. Limited glue kept this moving.
Blame It On The TETONS
Pleasant enough Tuesday morning solve.
She comes in incense and PATCHOULI
So you take her to find what's waiting inside
I think you meant to say "the sneeze sound idea sounds funny until it's snot".
DeleteBest Dad joke today!
Delete@kitshef 7:48 AM
Delete🤓
Didn't get theme at all, did it as a theme less and wondered what the starred clues had to do with each other until I read wordplay last night. I knew oxo so I got exclave even though I had never seem it
ReplyDeleteA very well known exclave is Alaska.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that many folks here jump to the revealer for help solving the themers. I try to do the opposite: hack my way through the themers, usually not seeing the connection, and hope that the revealer will give me an “aha” moment. (Or is that an “oho” moment?) Getting to the revealer early sorta feels like cheating, though of course it isn’t—it’s just a different approach to solving.
ReplyDeleteI suppose “avoid the revealer” is a house rule, like downs-only Mondays: a self-imposed restraint to add a bit more challenge and thus interest.
Truth be told, I usually ignore the theme altogether, solving as a themeless. If the revealer adds a little something near the end, then that’s a nice bonus.
Just curious how other folks approach and maybe customize their solving experience.
I solve wherever the crosses take me. I find the solve is usually most pleasant when I don't hit the revealer until late, but I don't try to avoid it and for sure would never go looking for it.
Delete@Andy, the revealer doesn't usually matter to solving the theme answers. Today, all four themers were apparent from their individual clues. And same for the two revealers. You didn't need to know their correlation to figure them out. In fact, "getting the theme" was something that happened after the puzzle was completed...re-read the revealer clues, stared (blankly at first), at the theme answers, stared some more, then "ok, I got it".
DeleteWhen there's no inherent beed to use the revealer to get the theme answers, it typically solves more like a themeless, in my experience. Today's theme answers and revealers took up a lot of real estate, necessitating a ton of short fill (24 three-letter words). The constructor can be proud of the interrelationship and symmetry, but it doesn't add to the solve.
@Andy Freude 7:15 AM
DeleteMonday thru Wednesday: Try to emulate @Lewis and not peek at the reveal so I can guess what it might be. Almost always fail.
Thursday: When nothing is making sense, go reveal hunting and hope it helps the solving. Sometimes it does.
Friday and Saturday: Wish it wasn't Friday or Saturday. Rue the day they invented book awards.
Sunday: Slog through the puzzle in any way possible and hope there's a general meltdown on the blog's comments section.
Hand up for also never having heard the word EXCLAVE before, but it was pretty easily inferable from crosses. Still, it was my last entry and I was a little surprised to get the happy music. But the crosses couldn’t have been anything else. MASSACHUSETTS was the first themer I got, because I live in it and all our zip codes start with 01 (I think all?) and have lots of zeros.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Clare! And to your dad too.
Not all MA Zips, Fall River's is 02720
DeleteMaybe 01… is mainly Western Mass.
DeleteJjJK
DeleteThat’s correct. O1 in western Mass 02 in eastern Mass.
The puzzle was a pretty good Tuesday and the highlight was the errant X, but the real star of my morning was Clare’s write up. Loved the links!!
ReplyDeleteMy mind was elsewhere this morning and did not register the theme at all until I read Clare’s summary. Thank you Clare! Got PATCHOULI from the crosses but strangely had a hard time sussing out SAM (don’t know him) and NIP (tried sIP) at the end. In retrospect an interesting construction, just wish I had been more alert in bumbling through this one.
ReplyDeleteI liked the originality of this theme, having “achoo”-ish words as enclaves in other words, and I liked the clever revealer.
ReplyDeleteI liked the lovely non-theme answers TAMPS, SCANT, STYMIE, AUTEUR, and PATCHOULI.
I liked the lovely serendipities – OER crossing ORE, PAH under DAH, and four double letters in the first two rows.
I liked learning post-solve that the formal/medical term for sneezing is “sternutation”.
I liked that if the answer ASU were a word, it would come close to being a theme echo.
Finally, what I liked most – me, who’s weak at the skill of figuring out a revealer before filling it in – No, I didn’t come up with TO SNEEZE AT, but before getting it from crosses, I *did* see the “achoo” in the theme answers, and that felt very, very good. Small steps…
And thus, a splendid like-fest today, that I greatly enjoyed. Thank you, Adam!
Lewis is right about Alaska, of course, but I've never heard it referred to as an EXCLAVE. Much better term than "non-contiguous state." But Kaliningrad has been in the news a bit over the last year or so, and I've seen it called one.
ReplyDeleteI question the clue for AUTEUR, though. I think it refers more specifically to a movie director who controls the whole production, so that the movie is regarded as his or her creation.
OK, is it a dad joke? The prototype of this thing is:
Knock knock
Who's there?
Boo
Boo who?
Well, you don't have to cry about it.
You need the setup to make it a joke. I thought maybe patchouli made one sneeze, and (not having read the whole clue) that maybe the low zip code was 00000, i.e., nothing. But STATUETTE gave me the achoo! sound.
A little bit difficult for a Tuesday? Well it was for me. Wouldn't have understood the theme at all except for Clare's explanation.
ReplyDeleteFor Andy F: I like to parse out the theme as early as I can. It frequently helps with the overall solve.
Did you notice all those qualifiers in the clue for Massachusetts? The "town-level" qualifier was needed to eliminate 00501 and 00544, which are zip codes for the IRS in New York. Also lower are all zip codes from Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, so we needed the "continental U.S." qualifier.
ReplyDeleteDid not notice -- thanks!! Good trivia!
DeleteMedium-easy, which was something of a surprise to me as it felt hard while solving. WoEs include ODELL, SAM, RIAN, and TOOREAL; that's a lot for a Tuesday.
ReplyDeletePATCHOULI I've only heard of once before, in a NYT puzzle a decade ago. But it made such an impression on me I remembered it.
It was fun going back and reading the comments about that 2016 appearance, with some then-familiar names and still-familiar names like George Barany, Hartley70, RooMonster, Mohair Sam, Teedmn, Aketi, Anoa Bob, chefwen, Quasimojo, and our late lamented GILL I weighing in on PATCHOULI.
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteClare, Happy (early) Birthday! 30! Nice. I remember turning 30, I was pissed off! I kept telling everybody, "Don't talk to me." 😁 You know, when you're 18, 30 seems old! Then you turn 30, and you do think you're old! But, Clare, 30 is still young. I know you probably don't feel it, but as an older guy, I'd give a lot to return to 30. Age is weird in that you have nothing to compare it to, as you are only as old as you are, you don't have the years to look back upon. It's hard to describe what I'm trying to say. You at 30 are young to me at 57. I'm young at 57 to someone who is 80. It's all relative. I think that most people think they're old at any age they are (30+)!
Oh, the puz? Failed to get what the Theme was asking, even at a Dad Joke age. The ole brain couldn't get the SNEEZE sounds to come out. Silly brain.
Did enjoy the solve, relatively easy, regular TuesPuz time for me.
That's it, I guess. Hope y'all have a great Tuesday!
No F's - And that is something TO SNEEZE AT!
RooMonster
DarrinV
I’ll join Roo and others in wishing Clare a very happy 30th. I hope it’s not as traumatic for you, Clare, as it was for Roo. For me, 25 was the big one—a quarter century and I still wasn’t rich and/or famous. A failure! Last year I turned 70 with a smile. Still not famous, but rich in the things that count (as long as you’re not counting money). Many happy returns, Clare.
DeleteEse será el día.
ReplyDeleteThanks Clare. I did not see the achoos in the theme and wondered what the dad joke was all about. Thanks for explaining.
People: 5
Places: 1
Products: 4
Partials: 7
Foreignisms: 3
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 20 of 74 (27%)
Funny Factor: 2 😕
Uniclues:
1 What killed gramps?
2 Gum.
3 Easter bunny.
4 Am I drunk? frequently.
1 "IT'S NOTHING" KNOT
2 CUD ALT
3 CHOCO STATUETTE
4 ASK OUTTA HAZES
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: Drunken comment from noted golfer's nanny. EASY TIGER, HIC.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
hi zev!!! a dungeon crawler carl themed crossword would be a blast.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that a reader of Oprah's magazine is an OER? Or that the French edition is called EAU? When Mrs. Egs wanted to subscribe I said ONO!
ReplyDeleteHaving ONO and OXO in the same puzzle may not be well-considered, but I'd call DAH PAH rash.
Back in the hippie days there was a widely used phrase: Don't trust anyone over 30. I've adhered to that ever since, so you're now on my untrustworthy list, Clare (as am I). Happy birthday!
I very much like the playfulness of finding achoo-like sounds in a bunch of different ways in everyday words. Not sure they are groan-inspiring enough to be characterized as Dad jokes, but I liked the theme and the whole puzzle. Thanks, Adam Vincent.
Am I the only person who never heard of patchouli? So I had MAH before PAH and no idea where my error was.
ReplyDeleteYup
DeleteThis old timer was often in the Haight in the summer of 67, and the smell of PATCHOULI was everywhere.
DeleteI love reading these comments. Often makes me feel like an outlier, because there are times I struggle a bit and then see that Rex (and most of you) rated the puzzle "easy." Then along comes today. I breeze through the puzzle, not even noting the theme or caring to think about it. The words just fall out of my brain before I even finish my coffee and I think, Wow, this one is most definitely Easy! And Clare rates it Medium??? Vive la différence! Happy birthday, Clare, and happy solving, everyone.
ReplyDeleteIf you like Dungeon Crawler Carl, try He Who Fights Monsters. Similar (ish) sarcastic humor in the genre (which can become highly addictive!)
ReplyDeleteI print up the puzzle from the NYT website. Sometimes I get the newspaper version with tiny squares, others a bigger grid. I don't get a screen giving me a choice.
ReplyDeleteThe snot line above is a better joke.
Too many threes, 22.
Late-week sudokus don't require much logical thinking. Mostly the patience to analyze a lot of squares.
The theme itself is a dad joke. Not much of a puzzle.
Took me a bit longer than normal for Tuesday. I agree that the theme was confusing; as a certified-dad-joke-telling-dad, I really don't think any of what's in the puzzle are 'dad jokes' (or if they are, they are so lame that I'm rolling my eyes at them, not just my daughter).
ReplyDeleteI started with SKATERS at 1D instead of SKITEAM and SASSACHUSSETS made sense at 31A because it could certainly be part of a dad joke portmanteauizing SASS and MASSACHUSSETS (but then I got SASS at 1A and realized the beginning of that had to change).
Alternate clues:
ReplyDeleteLolita and her mom: HAZES
Instruction for the repair of a leaking OULI: PATCHOULI
They precede swine: PEARLS
Former kname: KNEE
Former clave: EXCLAVE
Digitized emperor: ENERO
Loved the puzzle and the write-up. In my four decades of teaching I got to use the expression "IT'S NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT" four or five times. I made some statement, a student sneezed, and then I said it. It usually got a decent laugh from the few students who were awake and not shopping for something on their laptops.
My experience was a bit different than @Clare's, the theme did it for me more than the fill. It was just whacky and silly enough to make me chuckle and whenever a puzzle causes me to try out the themers by saying them out loud, that's a good thing (got some curious stares from my wife...) They also would be very good fill in any puzzle all on their own as non-themers.
ReplyDeleteThe revealer did it's job, though I agree that calling it all a Dad Joke may be a stretch.
Happy Birthday, Clare! As a former New York Marathon runner (I was 46 when I first ran it) I'd recommend you go for it in Richmond if you feel you're up to the training and the race. It's something I'm happy to have crossed off the old bucket list. That being said, looking back on it, I now keep in mind that the original Marathon runner didn't fair all that well at the end... so these days, if I ever get the urge to try again, I go to the couch, lie down, and wait for the urge to go away!
Thank you for this, Adam. It was some whacky fun!
@Hugh
DeleteA man after my own heart! At least the "lie on the couch till the urge goes away" (paraphrased) part!
Happy birthday Clare! My dad and my father-in-law both had July birthdays too. Glad you got to see Noah Kahn, probably the most famous alumnus of the high school where I used to teach. People are still visiting his small nearby home town and stealing the road signs that lead to his house.
ReplyDeleteMessed myself up twice right off the bat with KNIT for KNEE and ACTS for OPTS. That took some repair work. ODELL was an unknown as was SAM as clued. And does anyone ever say PAH? Anyone? Thought not.
This was a revealer that actually revealed, at least for me. Had all the themers, missed the connection, and thought it was great. I've actually used this on a friend's son. What's that on our foot? A shoe. Bless you! And so on. He was fed up with that in a hurry.
Fun fact about "Country Roads", our World Cup song--John Denver originally considered MASSACHUSETTS before "West Virginia". Guess it didn't have that country feel.
I liked this one a lot, AV. Just chewy enough for a Tuesday and A Very good time was had by me. Thanks for all the fun.
for anyone turning 30 who grew up watching 13 Going on 30, I recommend this podcast https://www.thecut.com/2021/03/the-cut-podcast-thirty-flirty-and-thriving.html
ReplyDeleteDad joke? PAH!
ReplyDeleteI live very close to Massachusetts. Whenever I drive over there, I see a sign that says "Welcome to Massachusetts". Each time, I can't help but exclaim "Gesundheit!".
Today, I filled in the NW then went down the west to MASSACHUSETTS! Naturally, I expected to see a clue for Gesundheit. Ah well. This is what achoos to do.
My sleep deprived brain struggled mightily with this puzzle. Example: School sporting group…got it on the crosses and thought what the heck is a Skite Am? Lovely write-up Clare and happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Clare that the theme doesn't really ring "Dad joke" in particular, but that's the fault of the cluing for 17A and 58A, not the puzzle's fault.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed getting the revealer and going back for the homophonic achoos. Very fun!
Thanks, Adam Vincent, for a fun Tuesday solve.
har. Agree with other Comment gallery folks who sorta mentioned that the puztheme is almost funnier than snot.
ReplyDeleteMan, it was temptin to just go figure out the revealer part#2, after gettin part#1's ITSNOTHING. Didn't do that, and so was pretty much cluelesser about what the puztheme mcguffin was up to. Nice hard-earned ahar moment eventually, tho.
Happy B-Day, Clare darlin. Nice blog write-up, for an upstart-young 30-year-old. har
staff weeject pick: PAH. Goes well with that whole Dad-joke thing.
What? Not a single ?-marker clue? Well, hey -- at least they had PAH/PATCHOULI & CHOCO/EXCLAVE, to spark some head-scratchin.
fave thing: The Ow de Speration sneeze outta STATUETTE. [... Gnu hide!]
And ... What!!, no KINKAJOU?
Thanx for the fun, Mr. Vincent dude. Played kinda nice and feisty for a TuesPuz, at our house. [Bring it, Shortzmeister.]
Masked & Anonymo6Us
p.s.
Runt puzzle (and somethin to sneeze at?):
**gruntz**
M&A
No IRA references? When P superceded T in 61 across, I thought I had either 43 or 44 down incorrectly . PTRAP....oh wait I'm a week behind (July 21)
ReplyDeleteThis was just fine for a Tuesday. I totally did not get the theme at all until I finally got SNEEZE down there at square 59. And then: ah, achoo!! Chuckle chuckle.
ReplyDeleteHands up not only for ENCLAVE, but also MAH crossing MATCHOULI... I thought maybe that oil is an ingredient in Matcha.
Not too many names; a few Unknowns: ODELL ASU RIAN SAM. For that last one, the clue ""Rock singer ____ Fender" had me trying to shoehorn FREDDIE into 3 letters.
Can someone explain NIP (60D: Alcoholic equivalent of a fun-size candy bar)??
ReplyDelete@Georgia: A whiskey NIP is a miniature glass or bottle of whiskey, drinkable in a coupla gulps or so. A fun-sized candy bar is one of those miniature ones that are good for maybe a coupla bites worth [altho M&A has been known to do some kinds of those in one big bite].
DeleteSo, they're both runty portions of their stuff.
M&A Help Desk
Not 100% sure on this but I think a "fun-size candy bar" is a small, maybe one-bite piece and a NIP is a small, quick sip of alcohol. The "bar" suggests a larger piece of candy so maybe "fun-size piece of candy" would have worked better.
Delete@Georgia 3:11 PM
DeleteNips are those little miniature bottles of booze you see at gas stations (where it's legal) or the check out counter at every liquor store.
THANKS, all! Not a candy person, I thought "fun size" meant big.
DeletePretty clever and fun puzzle! And great write-up, Clare. Happy birthday and many many happy returns!! Oscar Wilde said youth is wasted on the young, but I enjoyed my 30s and wish I were 30 again.
ReplyDeleteExcept I am worried about climate change, wars, pandemics, weird politics….
TIL EXCLAVE, nice word
Great writeup - I’ve read your guest reviews many times and thought you were, well, maybe your dad’s unspecified age. Not an insult - in fact, a compliment to your maturity in writing style. Also, didn’t know anyone younger than 60 who said “anywho”! Anywho….
ReplyDeleteI too was off by one letter - though a different one. Figured the expression of disgusthad to be bAH, so, voila, bATCHOULI! Thought as a family nickname, “bah” was close enough to “”Brah” (or Bro) for NYTXW work!
Anywho, I enjoy your posts!
“Pah” as an expression of disgust is the most made-up thing I’ve ever seen in a crossword
ReplyDeleteI have never seen it before either
DeleteEXCLAVE clue was one of the most annoying KEA/LOAs ever because ENCLAVE is a much more common word.
ReplyDeleteInitially, because of cross answers, I had thought "units of horse racing" was "Neighths" which I thought was a clever pun though there were no hints that it would be a tricky answer. I also had "skateam" - like "skate team" for "sporting group" and was like wow they did not give hints for all the puns & word play in this puzzle lol.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else try to do the Midi puzzle today, but have some kind of blurry graphic get in the way of seeing the grid? (Happening on a PC on both Chrome and Edge)
ReplyDeleteI would rather have a slightly obscure word like exclave that you could reason your way to than the name of some random person that you either know or don’t
ReplyDelete