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Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium (solved Downs-only)
 |
| [8D: Darth Vader's childhood nickname = ANI] |
Theme answers:
- AWNING (13A: Cafe overhang) casts a "shadow" on FAWNING OVER (18A: Giving excessive praise and flattery)
- TREE (29A: Branch plant?) casts a "shadow" on STREETWEAR (35A: Urban casual fashion)
- HAT (37A: Sombrero or fedora) casts a "shadow" on "THAT'S RIGHT" (41A: "You are correct")
Oswego (/ɒsˈwiːɡoʊ/ oss-WEE-goh, Onondaga: Deyoʼswé·geʼ ) is a city in and the county seat of Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 16,921 at the 2020 census. Oswego is situated at the mouth of the Oswego River on the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario in Upstate New York, about 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Syracuse and 74 miles (119 km) east-northeast of Rochester by road. The city promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York".The first European settlement at Oswego was a British trading post established in 1722, and it was first incorporated as a village in 1828 before becoming a city in 1848. British forces briefly captured the city during the War of 1812, but were defeated nearby later that same month. The canalization of the Oswego River was a major boon to Oswego, attracting settlement and investment; this was later bolstered by its status as a rail hub for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, though this status had begun to decline by the 1940s. During World War II, Fort Ontario was the site of the only Jewish refugee camp in the United States. Today, the city's economy is primarily based around manufacturing and services. (wikipedia)
• • •
The Downs-only solve was mostly easy, though the NE gave me some trouble, as IRON LAW is not a phrase that rolls off the (my) tongue—I want it the law to be "iron-clad," and I want it to be a rule, not a law (I knew it wasn't "rule" because "rule" is in the clue, but the phrase really wants to be "iron-clad rule") (9D: Rule with no exceptions). I also imagined that Plato thought that everyone became a FOOL at the touch of love (11D: What everyone becomes at the touch of love, per Plato's "Symposium" => POET). Oh, and that MOVE was SWAP (10D: Change places). In the middle of the grid, I wanted STEAMED before SEETHED (26D: Was fuming mad). OSWEGO would've been hard for me, but a. I live in the state of NY, not *that* far from OSWEGO County, and b. I managed to infer the initial "O" from -AF (OAF). New York has a lot of Native American place names with "O"s. OSWEGO, ONEONTA ... my "local" baker is in OWEGO (about 20 minutes away). I went for a walk in OTSININGO Park this morning. I'm surprised anyone outside NY is expected to know where / what the hell OSWEGO is, especially on a Monday, but the crosses were all fair, right? I can see that answer flummoxing Downs-only solvers, but I lucked out, geographically.
Bullets:
- 29D: Pre-1917 Russian autocrat (TSAR) — yes, it *could* be CZAR, but if it's a Russian ruler, *always* default to TSAR. Most of the time, if it's CZAR, it'll be in the context of some political appointment, like "Drug CZAR."
- 24D: Work likely to be shown at an independent cinema (ART FILM) — got this easily. I see a lot of ART FILMs, though I'm not sure I'd use that term. I'm watching the 1977 Japanese horror-fantasy film House right now, which feels like an ART FILM, but only in the context of 2026 USA. In 1977 Japan, it was a smash hit. Extremely mainstream, whereas ART FILM to me implies something with less obvious commercial appeal. Yes, the wikipedia entry says that an ART FILM is "not designed for mass appeal." House is the kind of movie that would play at an "art house theater," but I don't know if it's exactly an ART FILM. All the terminology here is, let's say, imprecise. But whatever House is, it's fascinating (and wild, and hilarious), and you should see it.
- 51D: Winter hrs. in Wichita (CST) — didn't know if Wichita was Central or Mountain, so had to wait on that first letter. In the end, "CAN I GO?" was a lot more plausible than "MAN, I GO!," so I managed to enter the correct letter.
That's all for today. See you next time.
[Follow Rex Parker on BlueSky and Facebook and Letterboxd]
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I solved Downs-only and noticed the double AWNING quickly, which helped a bit with the other shadows. SHADOWBOXES is a great revealer, and only after getting it did I notice the connection that HAT, AWNING and TREE share. Another nice touch is the clue on HAT mentioning the sombrero specifically, as it gets its name from sombra meaning "shade".
ReplyDeleteWow! Killer find with the sombrero innuendo.
DeleteIt's early, but with wordplay as bad as this, it's best to get it over with as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteTimmy hid his report card from his parents. He didn't want them to SEETHED he got in Math. And History. And English. And Biology. Oy.
Exterminator's credo: Gnot A Gnother GNAT!
What's that old root beer company again? WANDA?
No. AANDW.
I have often walked down this street before;
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.
All at once am I several stories high,
Knowing I'm on the STREETWEAR you live.
What many are thinking these days: CANADA: CANIGO?
Loved the puzzle -- great theme execution.
Lovely funny comments!
DeleteLove this you clever person!
DeleteAbsolutely cracking up over On the streetwear you live. Next time I watch My Fair Lady your wordplay will go through my head!
DeleteSolved as a themeless but saw the shade trick with AWNING. I’m sure it was a chore to build but didn’t affect how I went through the grid.
ReplyDeleteBound AWAY
Spent plenty of time at my uncle’s house in beautiful Mexico, NY so OSWEGO went right in. Overall fill was fine - Rex summarizes nicely. NEAPOLITAN, WAFTS, SERENE, PEACE MARCH are all solid. Some forces short stuff in the middle that glommed things up a little but nothing too rough.
Pleasant enough Monday morning solve.
Wendell GEE
I enjoyed this puzzle even as I ignored the theme (my modus operandi). Had to read Rex to appreciate its subtlety. That’s quite a lot to accomplish on a Monday. Good one, Michele Govier!
ReplyDeleteMy five favorite original clues from last week
ReplyDelete(in order of appearance):
1. Eavesdrop from afar, maybe (4)(4)
2. Holder of all the digits, from 1 to 0 (6)
3. Line of passengers (3)(2)(5)
4. Tie with string (4)
5. Poison classification (4)(5)
READ LIPS
KEYPAD
ARE WE THERE
BOLO
HAIR METAL
My favorite encore clues from last week:
Delete[Small sounds] (6)
[Something in which you might stand for a spell] (3)
INLETS
BEE
What an elegant theme, embracing wordplay (with SHADOWBOXES), and visually illustrating the SUN shining on objects known for bringing shade, and casting shadows..
ReplyDeleteElegant and complex, and simply beautiful.
Many experienced solvers eschew Monday puzzles as an unsatisfactory throw-away. I find, often, that they contain delights that I’m grateful for not missing. Today’s charming and adeptly executed theme, for instance.
I’m guessing Michele came across the term SHADOW BOX, and from there she wove this multifaceted and artistic result. That’s first-class constructor’s mind. She’s got the knack.
This from a constructor who, per her notes, tried to make her first puzzle at age 11, found it hard, and waited 40 years to try again.
I’m glad you did, Michele. This puzzle lit up my day. Thank you!
No shaded boxes for me; circles instead. Kind of ruins the point of this clever theme. I do feel like with that SUN placement the HAT shadow should have been directly under the HAT.
ReplyDeleteAt first I had everyone become in POOR at the touch of love. I've had worse guesses (in a recent Croce puzzle I guessed that a quote about GEHRIG was instead about 'hitler').
Hey All !
ReplyDeleteChalk up another sign of brain failure ... This Theme just whoosed right over the ole noggin. Never noticed the "shadow inducing words" above the shaded squares. Just thought that each shaded answer was something that cast a shadow, not realizing that they were actually the shadows! Pretty neat, especially having SUN as the catalyst in the NW 1A answer. Crafty, and I missed it.
Just clicked on the Revealer, and SUN turns yellow. Pretty neat.
Ended up being a cool puz. Seems like the Theme warrants a TuesPuz, but fun to discover this on Monday.
Hope y'all have a day filled with SUN on a workday Monday!
Two F's
RooMonster
DarrinV
I think the ole noggin just doesn't function for me! My routine is to finish the puzzle, then check here to understand the theme.
DeleteSame here! Finish the puzzle check here to understand the theme.
DeleteI missed that the SUN was casting the SHADOW BOXES. That’s a nice bonus to a fun theme.
ReplyDeleteHave we talked about how many puzzles in the past 2 weeks have had SINEW in them??
ReplyDeleteRight, so many SINEWs lately!
Delete@Jason: I believe the plural of SINEW is Sinese.
DeleteGary
DeleteI literally laughed out loud ( I am alone) when I read comment.
Solving (almost) downs-only I barely noticed the doubled words. Only by coming here did i appreciate the shading artistry. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThe fun was all in the theme, but a lot of fun it was! One keeps seeing other features that make it better than one thought it was. First one sees that the SHADOW BOXES of the revealer are actual shaded boxes in the theme answers, and that these boxes contain words for things that cast shadows. That's a bit boring -- but then I worked my way around to 13-A, which had to be AWNING, but I didn't want to put it in because it was a dupe! Then I noticed that HAT did the same thing, and only then realized that one word was casting a shadow on its twin below. And only THEN did I remember that the SUN was up there, casting those shadows. I loved that (although I did not become a POET).
ReplyDeleteAs @kitshef points out, the shadows are not in exactly the right places, since the shading answers are in different directions from the SUN. But maybe that would have been too much to ask.
So the theme was great--but the cluing! Way too obvious -- SUN as center of the solar system? Or how about "Assignments for lawyers and judges" as a clue for CASES? I like that clue type, but the whole point of it is to switch categories. "Assignments for lawyers and violins" (or fly rods) would be so much better and not much harder (since it's Monday). I blame the editors for that one, though.
I thought I'd been in OSWEGO until I read Rex and saw that it was on Lake Ontario. I was mixing it up with Otego, which is near him. But I had heard of it, anyway.
Nice theme, nice puzzle.🎈🎈🎊🎊
ReplyDeleteA minor editing mistake. There are no such things as "Bahts" The plural of Baht,, the currency of Thailand, is "Baht." So it's 100 baht, not 100 bahts. I liked the Plato clue.
ReplyDeleteGreat catch! Though i do see that a small number of dictionaries are recognizing Bahts as "acceptable," - though apparently only when purchasing deers, sheeps, salmons, trouts and other fishes, but never when purchasing a scissor, pant, or trouser.
DeleteA lot of SINEWS over the last 5-6 days.
ReplyDelete23D TSAR; Strangely (to me, anyway) Matt Gaffney deviated from the commonly accepted custom in last Friday's WSJ meta puzzle by cluing CZAR as a "pre-1917 ruler."
ReplyDeleteThe rarity of this led me to believe briefly that this deviance might be a clue to the meta. But, alas, it turned out to be merely a Gaffney quirk.
To which he is, of course, entitled. So, not so Terrible; but not so Great, either.
Tailor trying to get the attention of the two ladies arguing about how you finish the edges of a dress: AHEM
ReplyDeleteIRONLAW laid down by Mrs. Egs: If you buy clothes that need ironing, you do it yourself.
Experts in pavement life fear STREETtEAR much more than STREETWEAR.
The cost of bathing in Thailand fluctuates so wildly that it's tough to know the BAHTS:baths ratio at any given time.
Every time he goes in for imaging, MRT GREETS MRI.
Wonderful theme. I got the repeating part early in my D.O. solve, which helped a bunch. Thanks for a superb Monday, Michele Govier
Saw the words on top of the shaded words easily enough but I totally missed the sun being in the upper left. Good construction, I like it.
ReplyDeleteWAFT in the mini today and WAFTS in the regular puzzle today. FWIW.
The xw and the midi often share a word - today it's AHEM.
DeleteOSWEGO! My first full-time job after grad school (at Syracuse U) was as Executive Director of the Oswego County Council on the Arts, 1978-80. The office was actually in the city of Fulton in a historic home I was able to help save from demolition (to pave a Burger King parking lot).
ReplyDeleteI hope you rode away in a big yellow taxi
Delete"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"
DeleteOnce again, my feelings for a puzzle did a complete 180, I think it was as recently as this past Saturday that the same thing happened,. I love that, and I ended up loving today's puzzle... *a lot*!!
ReplyDeleteAs I solve Mondays in the conventional way, I just thought the across experience was so extremely easy and tame that this was going to be ho-hum at best, and that I should finally try downs only. Then I came to the revealer, and that moment was absolute magic, one of my most profound "AHA" moments ever, *and on a Monday!!!!!* And the truth is, all I noticed at first were the shaded squares spelling out things that can give shade/make shadows, which is what the sun creates! This puzzle had me right there! I thought *that* was brilliant! It wasn't until I came here and read @Rex that I realized the shadows were created by the same words above and to the left! That is pure art in my book. Creating a Monday with the appropriate ease of fill with such a dense theme takes a gifted constructor.
I'm embarrassed to say that a hold-up for me was OSWEGO, I grew up in New York City, admittedly a couple of hours away from that part of the state, but I was an undergraduate at @Rex's place of work and one of the other State Universities of New York is in OSWEGO, shoulda been a gimme. I even had most of it filled in and still took a bit. Maybe too much Genesee Cream Ale back in the day...
Enjoyed some cluing today like Make some waves for PERMED and some longish ones sit pretty in the grid like TEPIDLY and PEACEMARCH. It was also fun having ROM COMS and ARTFILMS playing together.
Michele, I'm grateful that this idea came to you and that you had what it takes to create something so special. Thank you!
And now Hugh's Monday Haiku:
Often I WANDA,
AND MOVE along TREE lined STREETS
AS IS my custom
The book is called “Where the Wild Things Are,” not “Where the Wild Things Imp.”
ReplyDeleteA tiny terror is still an imp
DeleteI'm with @Roo today, filled the whole thing in and totally missed the shading part, which is ingenious and would have doubled my enjoyment. I should know by now that there is more to some puzzles than I see at first glance. Maybe next time.
ReplyDeleteFill was easy enough, although ARNETT and DOHA always take a few crosses. STREETWEAR? Around here we just say "clothes".
And in a nod to @Liveprof (and something we used to sing in high school in NY)
OSWEGO, into the wild blue yonder...
My Gosh that was a clever theme, MG. Wish I 'd seen the whole thing, and thanks for all the fun.
Appreciate the nod!
DeleteIn hindsight, this looks like it was "gettable" as a Downs only; alas, we dove in at 1A and kept going with Acrosses. The online version, with the cursor on 1A, highlighted 57A in yellow, calling attention to the link between those two clues and the theme.
ReplyDeleteMy wife immediately saw that FAWNING OVER's (gray) shaded boxes matched AWNING above it. No real trouble after that; the theme was clever.
Wasn't sure an ART FILM was a thing, but both my wife and Rex (and his consultation of Wikipedia) confirmed that it's so.
Our first jobs were at supermarkets, though neither at an IGA. Are there still IGAs? (Looks it up) Yes; five in Massachusetts although all in the western part. My wife worked at an A&P (aandp in crosswordese?) They ceased operating in MA in the 1980's, so that must be what I was thinking of as far as extinct grocers, at least in this neck of the woods.
Yikes...24 three-letter words, including crossing sets of OOXTEPLERNON wannabes HATOAFTASAKA and DINMERGEEORO. Easy to see Rex initially with a below Satisfactory grade, but enjoyed reading his epiphany.
I’ve been spelling Neapolitan wrong for many years!
DeleteIn a theme-centric puzzle world, this one deftly hits the mark. Kudos to the constructor for simplicity and elegance.
ReplyDeleteThis was a satisfactory Monday. I was not really impressed with the theme. I tripped all over myself in the SW but it wasn't all my fault. I'm looking at you, "CANIGO". I know that there is latitude for can vs. may in informal speech, but when the clue is in the context of asking for permission, the answer has to be "MAYIGO". So I had mST even though it seemed wrong. When I got to MAY (the month) I was forced to change to CAN to avoid the dupe. And it sorted CST.
ReplyDeleteLynn
DeleteThe clue “Is it OK if I leave” signals informal language. Can I go in SPOKEN English is virtually universally understood to mean something similar to the clue. So the very formal “May I” is unlikely In context, the answer is fine.
I immediately filled in HUDSON for river, county, etc. and thought I was very smart. Also had PEACE RALLY before PEACE MARCH. Today was the first time I attempted solving Downs-only and it made the Monday a lot more fun (albeit slower) than usual.
ReplyDeleteA very enjoyable Monday puzzle. I also missed the shadowing aspect of it. Too bad as that would’ve added to the fun
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rex, for the visual of the sun rays - the clueing for the reveal answer was convoluted enough that I missed the SUN tie-in, which really adds a lot to the solve.
ReplyDeleteThe company I worked for had, for a while, an office in NYC so that meant we had to pay NY state taxes (and NJ and CT also, due to reciprocity). Every county and municipality, it seemed, had its own tax so I actually did know OSWEGO. It's been long enough that I had some trepidation that my memory was perhaps faulty, but no!
The AWNING/FAWNING pair gave away the circles (my solve had circles which didn't help with understanding the SHADOW part of the theme) so again, Rex's grid highlights the puzzle so much better than my experience of it.
Michele Govier, very nice, thanks!
When asking permission, it is “May I go?,” and not “Can I go”
ReplyDeleteAnonymous 11:23 AM
DeleteThe clue has OK , signaling informal English. Outside of a grammar class the answer is OK.!
Thank you, @Rex, for showing me how much of the theme I'd missed. I'd seen the SHADOWed words, but never put them together with the corner SUN nor did I appreciate that the theme words were classic SHADOW casters. Impressive! This Midwesterner knew OSWEGO, but I couldn't tell you why.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMedium.
No costly erasures.
I needed crosses for TEPIDLY and OSWEGO and PERMED was not obvious so that section consumed some nanoseconds.
Very clever and an impressive feat of construction, liked it a bunch!
Croce Solvers - Croce’s Freestyle #1157 was on the tough side of medium for me, with bottom half providing the most resistance. Good luck!
I might make a plea to the NYTimes editors to study this puzzle carefully, and note, especially, what a stunning visual puzzle it it. And then note that it relies on good old-fashioned mechanics - and not on cutesy electronic bells and whistles.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely more on the medium to medium-hard side for a Monday. Easy-medium for a Tuesday, maybe. Took me much longer than normal (albeit not all THAT long). Fun puzzle. I don't love the fact 3 words were used twice, but it's only 3 words, so it's not bad. If it were 4, no.
ReplyDeleteThis MonPuztheme definitely shines, all the way from 1-Across down.
ReplyDeleteBein a confirmed every-which-way solvequestor, saw the AWNING OVER shenanigans early, which helped with them later shadowy answers.
staff weeject pick: "The" SUN. Didn't catch on to its role in the puztheme, until later on, when readin the revealer clue. Nice little ahar moment, that.
honrable mention to TAS & its Brit-speak clue.
Extra-primo weeject stacks, NW, SE, N & S central borders. And also in a center Across-row run.
fave moo-cow easy-E MonPuz clue: {180 from SSE} = NNW.
some other faves included: NEAPOLITAN. ARTFILM. OSWEGO/CANIGO. WANDA [= M AND A, takin an early nap??]. TREES's Monday ?-marker clue.
TAS, Ms. Govier darlin. Nice, fun, way to start out the week.
Masked & Anonymo2Us
p.s.
Runt puzzle:
**gruntz**
M&A
Great Monday. Thank you, Michele
ReplyDelete(How frustrating is it to enjoy & solve so quickly only to spend more time looking for my typo than the puzzle????
ORANGE before OSWEGO because I don't know my NY state geography and it fit nicely when I just had the O and the G. That slowed me down a bit.
ReplyDeleteA “look-at-me” constructor’s puzzle. Only the theme saves this mish-mash of short fill. Not at all fun.
ReplyDelete¿Puedo irme ya?
ReplyDeleteShady little puzzle. It maybe could have used a little moss in the lower right hand corner. And a lot less gunk.
Looks like my comment yesterday never made it past the robot of morally righteous thinking at Google again (ya know, being the scourge to society I am), but I thought the puzzle was a hoot.
Today, I stared at the British TAS for a good while. It's apparently of 18th century childish origins and got stuck as something real. Those wacky Brits. I'd never heard it before. I thought they always said cheers.
Somebody mentioned it above. It's a good week for SINEW.
I think you become a "good" POET when you've been touched by love and then have it rip your soul apart as it's laughing it's way out of the door.
Work likely to be shown at an independent cinema: BAD MOVIE?
❤️ NEAPOLITAN. SHADOW BOXES.
Gunkometer--
People: 7
Places: 3
Products: 7
Partials: 9
Foreignisms: 2
--
Gary's Grid Gunk Gauge: 28 of 78 (36%)
Funny Factor: 3 😐
Uniclues:
1 How they will ensure you spend one night under a dumpster.
2 Urban-not-so-chic.
3 Triumphant declaration of the poker dork.
4 Website for the kinky.
5 Question asked prior to hearing, "If you're American, hell no."
6 Student outcome of my teaching curriculum.
7 Function of the UPS man.
8 What rubber bullets, batons, tasers, tear gas and percussion grenades are for in our ever advancing society.
1 OKS AMSTEL
2 AS IS STREET WEAR
3 THAT'S RIGHT. ACES.
4 PERMED.COM
5 CAN I GO, CANADA?
6 UKES TEPIDLY
7 GREETS CASES
8 MOVE PEACE MARCH
My Fascinating Crossword Uniclue Keepsake from Last Year: One headed to Mecca who stops for a dalliance at the Chi Omega house. HAJIS' SORORAL RUSE.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Glad you got to see and enjoy Pierre and very happy to hear that he can still bring it. I had his first two albums but they succumbed to downsizing due to multiple moves. Think they were worn out anyway. Every guitar fan I know likes him a lot.
DeleteLike Rex, solving down clues only made me completely miss the extra words "above" the shadow (circled) squares. I never saw the clues, and they all filled themselves in with crosses. Double doh!
ReplyDeleteAgain, seemed like a lot of names. Unknowns: ARNETT NALA DOHA. And OSWEGO took some effort; there are so many that fit. I think I tried NASSAU first but there were others.
We have quite a few IGA stores in the Okanagan; one only a block from my house. Nice stores with friendly staff.
Points for cleverness, I guess, but it was less than fun to solve.
ReplyDeleteOops, that was yesterday’s comment. Unlike Sunday’s slog, this one was both clever and fun.
A bit difficult as a D-O but some of the entries were pretty colourful. NEAPOLITAN, my fave ice cream as an indecisive child. Vanilla? Chocolate? Or strawberry? How about all three. And WAFTS is just a lovely word. The Plato quote (POET) was nice, too. ART FILM was interesting; I think I’ve heard it used as a euphemism for porn. Don’t get me wrong, I love a film made for art’s sake - no spandex, no mutants with bizarre super powers saving the universe - but that still seems like a weird term to me.
Although I have never been anywhere in the state of New York except NYC, I dropped in OSWEGO without thinking. No idea why.
Post-solve review revealed the clue for PERMED. That was pretty good. And, though I liked the home of the Ryans clue, I might have gone with something like “Country that still calls it Lake Ontario”.
Really enjoyed this, Michele Govier. Nice to have a sparkly Monday.
For my wife's birthday, I gave her a Lake Ontario tee-shirt. It has little Canadian flags on the sleeves. She loves it.
DeleteOh yeah, forgot to mention how much I liked the the theme idea and its execution. Brava!
ReplyDeleteNearly daily reader, only rare commenter. But got a real kick out of this McSweeney's post and thought you'd all enjoy it if you haven't seen it yet! https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/crossword-clues-where-its-clear-the-puzzles-creator-got-themselves-into-a-jam-letter-wise
ReplyDeleteThat McSweeneys article was hoot!
DeleteI remember an OSWEGO John commenter from a few years back although that may have been on another blog.
ReplyDeleteAny puzzle with Plato (11D clue) and RENE Descartes (47A) in it is okay by me. Maybe Plato's being "touched by love" inspired EA POE to become a POET.
The theme heavy grid with 41 black squares had me solving a bit TEPIDLY at first. I wasn't exactly FAWNING OVER all the short stuff. Maybe it was the appearance of AMSTEL and ASAHI beers that put this one in the "liked" category for me.
Very sweet Monday! Loved the shadows although I had to come here to see the SUN effect - thanks, Rex! I enjoyed some clues like 48A, made some waves.
ReplyDeleteI too lucked out geographically because there’s a Lake OSWEGO in Oregon.
Well, today I learned how to spell NEAPOLITAN (not with an o after the e), and I guess that's a good thing. But since it crossed a supermarket chain I've never heard of, IGA, I didn't get the happy music. And I don't like that, especially since it's Monday. Phooey!
ReplyDeleteHad the same problem! I was SURE it was Neopolitan 🤯
DeleteIt was a pretty neat theme, but I can’t say I enjoyed the solve. The very first clue set the tone [Center of the solar system, with “the”]. Ugh. How about something imaginative, like [Even the darkest night will end and the ___ will rise - Victor Hugo]. There were some good clues later but the majority didn’t seem up to NYT standards. I wouldn’t mind all the short gunk (Hi @Gary) if the clues had some life. Wonder how many were the constructor’s…
ReplyDeletePERMED as a transitive verb elicited a side-eye. As did the “waves” dupe in the clues for PERMED and for GREETS.
I did get a kick out of CANIGO being corrected with MAY at 65A. PEACEMARCH was timely after Saturday’s rallies.
Shall we vote on NEAPOLITAN ice cream vs. GELATO?
Interesting facts from etymonline.com:
Neapolitan(n.)
early 15c., "native or resident of Naples," literally "of Naples," from Latin Neapolitanus, from Neapolis; it preserves in English the Greek name of the city. As an adjective from 1590s. As a type of ice cream, from 1871; originally meaning both "ice cream of three layers and flavors" and "ice cream made with eggs added to the cream before freezing." In early 18c., Neapolitan consolation meant "syphilis."
Since I didn’t comment the last few days I’ll just say how much I did enjoy solving Friday, Saturday and even Sunday this week. (Sundays rarely bring pleasure but I liked the cluing yesterday.)
Thanks to all the recent constructors!
That the movie House was a "smash hit" when it came out boggles my psychedelic fur.
ReplyDeleteWhat are "TAS"???
ReplyDeleteHere’s what I read: It is heard more frequently in Northern England, Liverpool (often as "ta la"), and parts of Scotland, as well as parts of London and the South East, though it is less common among younger generations in some southern areas.
DeleteAny true child of the 80s knows that Mr. T's hair was a mandikan style, not a Mohawk.
ReplyDelete