Relative difficulty: Medium (somewhere in the 2:50s)
THEME: "SAY WHAT?" (71A: "Huh?" ... or a possible response to 1-, 19-, 25-, 48- and 57-Across — themers are ... what? Types of talk that are either incoherent or wrong or pointless or some combination, I guess:
Theme answers:
BLATHER (1A: Prattle)
MUMBO JUMBO (19A: Nonsense)
JIBBER JABBER (25A: Worthless talk)
GOBBLEDYGOOK (48A: Unintelligible jargon)
BALDERDASH (57A: Twaddle)
Word of the Day: EVA MARIE Saint (6D: Actress Saint of "North by Northwest") —
This is roughly the Monday equivalent of yesterday's puzzle: a loose list of vaguely related things, all of them redolent of times of yore, and then a grid that's creaky and, like the themers, has a cultural center of gravity somewhere in the middle of the last century. Look, I *love* EVA MARIE Saint, and she's welcome any time, but come on. SCOOB (!?) is what passes for a "current" cultural reference in this thing. "ZORBA the Greek" ... Paul ANKA ... LOVE-INS ... RED (!) CHINA ... "PAL JOEY" ... even the HIP stuff reeks of one-hit wonder datedness (BAHA Men, PSY). G.B. SHAW is a real yikes (only one step up from GBS, which thankfully you don't really see anymore — it seems to have been well and truly exiled along with RLS, EAP, and other literary monograms once thought worthy of grid space). Even the video game is old ("MYST"). Even the "Internet" slang is old (THE WEB!). BAD! SAG! Again, this isn't about bygone things per se, which are obviously an important part of anyone's knowledge base. It's just over and over and over, relentlessly, the presumed knowledge in this thing (and so many NYTXWs) belongs to those who are 65+; there's an arrogance, really, to the idea that you don't even have to acknowledge that other things have happened lately. It's deeply exclusionary of younger solvers. And again, I'm talking about degree here. Balance. There is no balance here. No generational balance. It's just dust. Everywhere. And the theme accentuates this, as most of these terms (which, by the way, have very little in common except kooky-sounding names) are now quaint and used only ironically, if at all. I mean, really, BALDERDASH? Actually, I might use BLATHER or MUMBO JUMBO. But the others, man, I don't know...
The theme could've been made a little more coherent if all the themers had had the same clue? Maybe? Like ... you probably could've gotten away with [Nonsense] for all of them. Probably. But what you have here is a not-terribly-coherent list, and it's weirdly extra long (just as yesterday's puzzle had an unusually high number of themers). More does not = better. It's just ... more of a just-OK, mostly boring thing, and all that "more" does is put pressure on the non-thematic elements of the fill, which is why it's not that great (OOO, ALAMB, BAAS, AER, LRON, etc.). That's all I have to say today. Hope springs eternal. Or, you know, hope stirs a little. Probably alive. Enjoy your day.
Relative difficulty: Average, with a Thursday gimmick
THEME: The World, orbiting The Sun — The World, indicated in the circled squares in the four quadrants of the grid, orbits The Sun, indicated in a rebus square in the center. The Sun also has lovely rays extending out into the grid.
RIP
Word of the Day: FALUN Gong (23A: ___ Gong [Chinese spiritual practice]) —
Falun Gong/ˈfɑːluːnˈɡʊŋ/ or Falun Dafa/ˈfɑːluːnˈdɑːfɑː/ (Standard Mandarin Chinese: [fàlwə̂n tâfà]; literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance (Chinese: 真、善、忍).
The practice emphasizes morality and the cultivation of virtue, and
identifies as a qigong practice of the Buddhist school, though its
teachings also incorporate elements drawn from Taoist
traditions. Through moral rectitude and the practice of meditation,
practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to eliminate attachments, and
ultimately to achieve spiritual enlightenment. [...] On 20 July 1999, the Communist Party leadership initiated a nationwide crackdown and multifaceted propaganda campaign intended to eradicate the practice. It blocked
Internet access to websites that mention Falun Gong, and in October
1999 it declared Falun Gong a "heretical organization" that threatened
social stability. Falun Gong practitioners in China are reportedly
subject to a wide range of human rights abuses: hundreds of thousands are estimated to have been imprisoned extrajudicially, and practitioners in detention are subject to forced labor, psychiatric abuse, torture, and other coercive methods of thought reform at the hands of Chinese authorities.As of 2009, human rights groups estimated that at least 2,000 Falun
Gong practitioners had died as a result of abuse in custody.Some observers put the number much higher, and report that tens of thousands may have been killed to supply China's organ transplant industry.
In the years since the persecution began, Falun Gong practitioners have
become active in advocating for greater human rights in China. (Wikipedia)
• • •
Laura here -- I'm back again, and I get to blog a woman constructor! (Or co-constructor, at least.) Did you know that so far in 2017, only 13% of New York Times puzzles have been constructed by women? That's on track to be the lowest percentage ever. Why so few? Editors, constructors, bloggers, and journalists have offered explanations: crossword constructing is more techy now (eye-roll), more women used to construct as a hobby and now they have real jobs and don't have time (larger and more dramatic eye-roll), or perhaps there's systemic and/or unconscious bias in the culture (eyebrow raise). Are you a woman or female-identified solver reading this blog and interested in constructing puzzles? I can't claim to be an expert, but I'm learning, and I'd love to learn with you. Send me a tweet or ask Rex to forward an email -- maybe we can work together on breaking what I've decided to call the Newsprint Ceiling.
Oh yeah, the puzzle: I liked it very much. I knew something was up, likely rebus-wise, when I couldn't fit SUNSET into 35A (Cowboys may ride off into it). Got the northeast right away with BATHTOY (14A: Rubber ducky, e.g.) crossing STUART (9D: Little of children's literature), noted that the circled letters spelled out THE WORLD and also that they made a little circle. Went to the southeast next, noted that we had another THE WORLD but that it was oriented differently, then orbited the sun clockwise and finished up in the northwest with ETRURIA (15A: Ancient region of central Italy) and ADRIENNE (2D: Actress Barbeau of the cult classic "Swamp Thing"). Did you notice that the letters of THE WORLDs aren't just randomly placed?
In each quadrant, THE WORLD is oriented differently; in the NE, it begins at noon and goes counterclockwise; SE, at 3pm; SW, at 6pm; and NW, at 9pm. Cool and lovely -- but I am a greedy solver and wanted more. I saw AARON (6D: Composer Copland) in the NE and thought, "Appalachian Spring"? Maybe each quadrant alludes to a season? Or did ETRURIA indicate something about which hemisphere faces the sun at whatever point? But nah. The fill was fill, however decent.
I live near the Appalachian Trail, where it is finally Spring
Bullets:
55A: Part of the escape route in "Casablanca" (ORAN) — I have seen Casablanca eleventy-godzillion times. Thought I had the script by heart. And I needed all the crosses to get this -- since it turns out that I have every bit of dialogue memorized except the escape route narration by the movie announcer guy in the opening credits. "I was misinformed."
40D: Jack of "Barney Miller" (SOO) — Barney Miller was a 1970s sitcom about NYPD detectives. Jack Soo, born Goro Suzuki, was interned imprisoned at the Topaz War Relocation Center Concentration Camp during WWII and acted for years on Broadway and in films and television, usually playing stock Asian characters. Detective Nick Yemana on Barney Miller was his last (and best) role until his death from cancer in 1979.
Jack Soo, 1917-1979 (on far right)
44D: Detective whose first name is Kentaro (MR MOTO) — Mr Moto was a recurring character in stories and novels by John Marquand from the 1930s through the 1950s. In eight movies produced in the 1940s, he was played by Hungarian-American actor Peter Lorre (whom you might also remember from Casablanca).
64A: Cartoonist's aide (INKER) — This was clued back in January as "Comics artist," which is far more accurate. Let's not demote our INKERs! Inking isn't something your assistant does to help; it is an integral part of the collaborative art of comics production. There's even an Eisner Awards category for inking.
Thanks to Rex for giving me another guest-posting opportunity this week, and I hope to see you all again soon.
THEME:EIEIO (69A: Children's song refrain found at the starts of 17-, 26-, 35-, 50- and 57-Across) —
Theme answers:
E STREET BAND (17A: Bruce Springsteen's group)
I FORMATION (26A: Offensive football lineup)
E PLURIBUS UNUM (35A: Phrase on the back of a buck)
I LOVE PARIS (50A: Cole Porter classic from "Can-Can")
O HENRY TWIST (57A: Surprise ending, as in "The Gift of the Magi")
Word of the Day:A.O. SCOTT(32A: Longtime New York Times film critic) —
Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and film critic. Along with Manohla Dargis, he serves as chief film critic for The New York Times. (wikipedia)
• • •
This is a sturdy, solid, old-fashioned puzzle. Again, as with yesterday's TOSSED SALAD (another old-fashioned concoction), I'm stunned this exact theme hasn't been done before. The reveal is somewhat nice. Not quite an aha moment, but definitely an 'oh, huh, neat' one. But the themers themselves aren't inherently interesting, and ... well, EIEIO is EIEIO, which is to say, one of those things you'd rather not see again in any crossword ever if you didn't have to. Here it's repurposed as a revealer, so that elevates its worth, some, maybe. There's really nothing wrong with this puzzle. Theme-wise, it was just a bit of a shrug for me.
[this is killing me]
Oh, no, wait. Sorry. One thing wrong. O HENRY TWIST? I believe that to be an entirely made-up phrase. OK, not entirely, but mostly. Everyone knows that O Henry stories are associated with a twist at the end—his name is practically synonymous with literary irony. So "twist," "irony," "ironic twist," these are all things I buy as phrases relating to O. Henry. But O. HENRY TWIST I do not buy. The very fact that you had to put an O. Henry story in the clue tells me that it is not a real thing. If it can stand alone as a [Surprise ending], then you don't need the story title, but you do, because it can't. It googles poorly and many of the hits you get add the word "ending" or are otherwise inexact. I see one google books result that says "many critics refer to the sudden, unexpected turn of events at the very end of a story as “the O. Henry twist." There's no footnote on this assertion, however, so I call baloney. It's just not a stand-alone phrase. Not. Veto. I would support OH HENRY TWIST as some kind of modernized version of the candy bar. Like Reese's Sticks. Only Oh Henry. And ... in some kind of twist ... shape.
Bullets:
22D: Globe shape: Abbr. (SPH.) — one of the few clunkers in this grid, which is really very nice overall. Gets a little rough in the SE, and there's an ILSA here and a LBO there, but lots of solid, vivid, interesting answers throughout kept the short stuff from hurting too much.
44A: Gourd-shaped rattles (MARACAS) — had the -AS and wrote in ... CASABAS!
31D: Reporter's contact (SOURCE) — the most elusive answer in the grid for me, for reasons unknown. I had SOUR- and ... no idea.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
P.S. my friend Mike Dockins asks "MISERS / SAM??? That gives you SAM and SAME in the same corner. Why not MISERY / YAM"? I have to agree. Why *not* MISERY / YAM. . . MISERY / YAM 2016!
Relative difficulty: Easy for me, but looks like more Medium for others ...
THEME: THINGS WITH HOLES (56A: What 20-, 28-, 36- and 45-Across are) — pretty self-explanatory.
Theme answers:
20A: Norwegian import in the dairy case (JARLSBERG CHEESE)
28A: Links (GOLF COURSE)
36A: You can hardly believe it (FLIMSY ALIBI)
45A: Bit of equipment for an outdoor kids' game (WIFFLE BALL)
Word of the Day: FRA diavolo (30D: ___ diavolo) —
Fra Diavolo (Italian for "Brother Devil") is the name given to a spicy sauce for pasta or seafood. Most versions are tomato-based and use chili peppers for spice, but the term is also used for sauces that include no tomato, or that use cayenne or other forms of pepper. According to chef Mario Batali, the spicy sauce is an Italian-American creation and is rarely served in Italy. (wikipedia)
• • •
This is a perfectly adequate puzzle. A placeholder. An inoffensive straightforward not-much-too-it fabrication. I don't know why I was able to solve it in 3:19 when I'm seeing times of my rivals running 30 seconds to two minutes slower. Do people not know what JARLSBERG CHEESE is? Not sure what else could be holding people back here. I did balk at FLIMSY ALIBI, which feels mildly arbitrary in its adjective, and I stumbled around a bit in the vicinity of HEXAD / DISH (the latter was oddly slippery). SEISMS didn't leap straight to mind. Couldn't remember LEPPS or LAPPS (70A: Northern Scandinavians). Wrote FEINTS for FEIGNS. But these were all very minor setbacks. Would've liked some more colorful answers in the themes (e.g. ROTTEN TEETH)—seems like the kind of theme that could go on and on, with enough answers for a Sunday, but no way it's interesting enough for a Sunday (unless you did something quirky with the grid structure, or had some extra dimension to the "hole" concept). Fill on this is not that good. Bit too heavy on the abbr. and xwordese, nothing particularly dashing (outside the themers) besides maybe IN A SLUMP.
Discussed the various spellings of "LAYLA" (LEILA, LEELA, LAILA) while walking home from dinner in Manhattan the other night, so "LAYLA" was even more of a gimme than usual. Four variations are, in order: Clapton song, character in "The Pearl Fishers," one-eyed character on "Futurama," boxer Ali.
My favorite part of the puzzle is Will's nice update to the clue on ALIAS.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Read more...
THEME: Head over heels —three-word expressions, where the first and third words are body parts
Word of the Day: VIDA Blue (60D: ___ Blue, 1971 Cy Young Award winner) —
Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is a former Major League Baseballleft-handedpitcher. During a 17-year career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics (1969–77), San Francisco Giants (1978–81; 1985–86), and Kansas City Royals (1982–83) He won the American League Cy Young award and Most Valuable Player Award in 1971. He is a six-time all-star, and is one of only four pitchers in major league history to start the all-star game for both the American League (1971) and the National League (1978); Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Roy Halladay would later duplicate the feat. (wikipedia)
• • •
I feel like I'm missing some key component of this theme. Body part + word + body part? Is that it? Not a lot of consistency there. All answers involve parts of the face ... except one. All answers have a preposition for the middle word ... except one. The one obvious answer that would fit the theme isn't even in the grid ("head over heels") (presence of HOOF also reminded me of "HOOF and mouth" disease ... not a great entry, or a pleasant thing to think about—I was in Britain during their epidemic of 2001. Lots of questions at customs about time spent on farms and what not. But back to the puzzle ...). Further, there are only four theme answers and still the grid is a festival of dull crosswordese (ARNE OLAN EDIE LIRR LSATS and on and on and on). The theme answers are pretty colorful, but this is a somewhat below-average Monday, overall.
Theme answers:
20A: Fiercely (TOOTH AND NAIL)
35A: Embarrassingly imprudent (FOOT-IN-MOUTH)
42A: Next to one another (CHEEK BY JOWL)
59A: Fast and in large amounts (HAND OVER FIST)
I learned in this puzzle that I don't know how to spell the simple word MAUL (1A: Manhandle horribly). I went with MAWL ... is that a type of hammer or something? I feel sure I've seen the word before ... nope, the hammer is also spelled with a "U" ... I'm sure all those years of reading Chaucer are to blame, somehow. Clue misreading had me wondering what Latin phrase there could possibly be that would refer to how someone does lawn work ("PRO BONO? Why would you cut someone's lawn for fr- ... oh, "law." Yes, that makes more sense"). My wife, who knows very little about sports (particularly American sports, particularly American sports from before she and I met) knew VIDA Blue because that is the name I gave to one of my daughter's stuffed animals many years ago (60D: ___ Blue, 1971 Cy Young Award winner). Against her will. "That's not his name!" "I had his baseball card as a kid. I think I know VIDA Blue when I see him." I can't be the only one who torments his (then) 4-year-old this way ... can I?
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Read more...
THEME: TO-DO LIST (66A: Agenda ... or, together, what the seven starred clues and their answers constitute?) — all the starred clues have answers that are synonymous with "TO-DO" (i.e. "disturbance")
Word of the Day: "AH, SIN" (9D: Bret Harte/Mark Twain play) —
Ah Sin (1877), a play by Bret Harte, Mark Twain. [ Fifth Avenue Theatre, 35 perf.] Broderick (Edmund K. Collier), a “knave through circumstances over which he ought to have control,” attacks Uncle Billy Plunkett (P. A. Anderson), “the Champion Liar of Calaveras,” leaving him for dead and attributing the attack to mill owner York (Henry Crisp). Just as a lynch mob is about to hang York, the wily Chinaman Ah Sin (Charles T. Parsloe) solves the crime by connecting an incriminating coat to Broderick. The Augustin Daly production, developed from a character in Harte's poem, was a failure, but it is remembered because of the speech Mark Twain, dressed in white, gave at the end that many critics claimed was better than anything in the play. Sensing a poor reception, Mark Twain began by wryly telling the audience that the play was “intended rather for instruction than amusement” and suggesting, as an example, that “for the instruction of the young we have introduced a game of poker.”
[It's pledge week here at the Rex Parker site (thru Sat.) —read my pitch for donations in the opening paragraphs of Sunday's write-up, here ... and thanks for your faithful readership (and the many kind messages I've received so far)]
• • •
Maybe it's just the 10 hours (!) sleep talking, but I *loved* this puzzle. Thorny without being filled with annoying, obscure words; delightful in the broad subject range of its answers; and smart in its theme and the execution thereof. Very clever repurposing of "TO-DO." And So Many Theme Answers—all symmetrical, all *intersecting* other theme answers, and yet nowhere does the grid feel strained or awkward. The only thing that bugged me had nothing to do with the quality of the puzzle—why does HULLA have two "L"s but "BALOO" doesn't? My brain rejects this lack of "L" symmetry. I don't know who Derek Bowman is, but Sarah Keller is an old pro—though usually you see her stuff on Monday or Tuesday. Whatever they've got going is working and they should do it again sometime.
Theme answers:
1A: *Rumpus (BROUHAHA) — more spelling issues here. I mean, "OU?" It's not HOUPLA or HULLABALOU or HOUHAH, after all...
7D: *Hubbub (HURLY-BURLY)
16A: *Excitement (HOOHAH)
10D: *Turmoil (COMMOTION) — stands out like a sore thumb for being the one theme answer one might actually use unironically / unsillily.
32D: *Tumult (KERFUFFLE)
63A: *Foofaraw (HOOPLA)
30D: *Ruckus (HULLABALOO)
With so little connection between the east and west halves of the grid, this really was like two different puzzles, though both ended up being about the same in terms of difficulty. I've been constructing puzzles over the past week (for eventual publication as well as for private clients) and I think being in constructing mode helps your solving brain, if only slightly. I used OAXACA in a clue yesterday (3D: Southern Mexican state), and I had to write a KSU clue a few days ago (P.S. almost all KSU clues are the same as this one—32A: The Wildcats of the N.C.A.A.). When you construct, you not only encounter all the words that eventually end up in your grid, but all the words that could've been in your grid, the ones you select, discard, put back in, spin around, write your friends about to see if they're good / terrible, etc. Anyway, I didn't need much special help or luck today, as the short answers were generally easy enough to give me significant purchase on the longer stuff. ANA and UNS in the NW, LMN and YMA near the middle, TAM and EBAY (51A: Web site that includes the heading "Dolls & Bears") in the SE. Do boxers have "matches" (25D: Match enders, briefly = TKOS)? I guess they do. But that's a word I associate more with soccer (aka football). Boxers have "bouts."
Bullets:
17A: Like the maximum-height New York City apartment building that's not required to have a fire evacuation plan (SIX-STORY) — I think I spent half my solving time reading this clue. Shouldn't every NYC building have, at least, a "plan" for getting people out of the building if it's burning?
28A: Inits. on many uniforms since 2002 (TSA) — good clue; had me stumped all the way.
34: Figure on Scotland's coat of arms (UNICORN) — I was looking for THISTLE, but luckily already had some important crosses, most notably the "U"
64A: They may be painted in a bathroom (TOENAILS) — I always imagine women doing this on the couch while watching soaps and eating bon-bons. Not accurate?
37D: Hungarian hero ___ Nagy (IMRE) — Crosswordese 102. Not much else available in the -MR- department.
39D: 1994 Ray Liotta action film ("NO ESCAPE") — never heard of it, and yet I got it easily, off of "NOES-." I've been watching 1987 movies lately. I recommend seeing "Black Widow" (starring Debra Winger and Theresa Russell) and avoiding "The Bedroom Window" (starring a completely miscast Steve Guttenberg ... but also a frequently naked Isabelle Huppert, so ... you could choose to take the bad with the good, I guess). The fact that both movies have the initials "BW" is a complete coincidence, as far as I know.
45D: 1920s-'40s baseballer with a retired "4" (MEL OTT) — lack of any indication of how great he was left me searching for a much less legendary player. The fact of a retired no. doesn't tell me much about real greatness. No "Hall-of-Fame," no position, no team ... totally gettable, but not the gimme it might have been.
46D: Holy Roman emperor who succeeded his father in 973 (OTTO II) — [Holy Roman emperor who [some random bit of trivia that will clarify things for you not at all]]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld
Read more...
THEME: B[vowel]D — clues for five theme answers are, in order of appearance, BAD BED BID BOD BUD
Word of the Day: ALAN LADD (22D: "Shane" star) —
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American film actor. [...] Ladd began by appearing in dozens of films in small roles, including Citizen Kane in which he played one of the "faceless" reporters who are always shown in silhouette. He first gained some recognition with a featured role in the wartime thriller Joan of Paris, 1942. For his next role, his manager, Sue Carol, found a vehicle which made Ladd's career, Graham Greene's This Gun for Hire in which he played "Raven," a hitman with a conscience. [...] In 1946, he starred in a trio of silver screen classics: the big screen adaptation of Richard Henry Dana's maritime classic, Two Years Before the Mast (for which he also received critical acclaim), the Raymond Chandler original mystery The Blue Dahlia (his third pairing with Lake), and the WWII espionage thriller, O.S.S.. [...] Ladd's played the title role in the 1953 westernShane. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. (wikipedia)
• • •
Not much to this one. Familiar conceit — though often vowel progressions occur within the fill rather than the clues, and most repeated-clue-themed puzzles actually have the same clue for all theme answers, rather than slightly altered ones, as we see here. I'm trying to give the puzzle credit for being, perhaps, slightly innovative, but it's hard. There's just not much here to love. It's easy and it's adequate. Monday Monday. Oh, wait. It's Tuesday Tuesday. Memorial Day has me turned around. Didn't like BAD=MISCHIEVOUS, though I guess they're roughly parallel. BAD on its own seems more "evil" than MISCHIEVOUS. Liked FUTURE BLOOM best of all the theme answers — most interesting, and also hardest to get (for me). Had to work for the FUTURE part. Fill is mostly familiar stuff. No real interesting words or unusual combos or crosses or ... anything. OPHELIA (5D: Shakespeare character who goes insane) is the one answer that kind of dances. BLURT (49D: Say without thinking) is entertaining, as five-letter answers go. There's really no need to call GRETA (31A: Van Susteren of Fox News) a HOER (36A: Weed whacker), though. She's just doing her job.
Theme answers:
17A: BAD (MISCHIEVOUS)
23A: BED (PLACE TO SLEEP)
37A: BID (OFFER)
46A: BOD (PERSON'S BUILD)
56A: BUD (FUTURE BLOOM)
Weirdest moment of the solve was pausing for what felt like eons (probably just a second or so) at the crossing of ASIA (2D: Province of ancient Rome) and SAY (20A: Two cents' worth). Neither clue made *any* sense to me, especially the former. That is a crazy way to clue ASIA. Not incorrect, I don't think, just nuts. ASIA = "province" = Does Not Compute. Merlin OLSEN (6A: Late football star and FTD pitchman Merlin) played Jonathan Garvey on "Little House on the Prairie," a show that also featured a character named Nellie OLSEN, only I just found out that her name is actually spelled "Oleson." Still, that's an odd coincidence.
Just a few missteps today: the ASIA/SAY thing, FINK for SING (33D: Rat on the Mob), the trouble with FUTURE, and then CFA for CFL (32D: North-of-the-border grid org.).
Bullets:
15A: Sluggo's comics pal (NANCY) — I really love this strip. Bushmiller's cartooning is fantastic, with many "NANCY" strips featuring zany, almost surreal humor.
39A: Movie pal of Stitch (LILO) — Should add that to my list of "21st Century Crosswordese" if I haven't already.
44A: "Animal House" beanie sporters (PLEDGES) — just saw an ad for this DVD, right before re-re-rewatching "Sixteen Candles" on Saturday.
64A: Hobbyist's knife brand (XACTO) — many (if not most) X-words in puzzledom are brand names. XEROX, XBOX, XGAMES, XTERRA, exetera.
THEME: SOAPS (39A: Afternoon fare ... or a hint to the ends of 20-, 33-, 41- and 52-Across) — theme answers are two-word phrases where second word is a brand of soap
Word of the Day: BIOME (43A: Community of plant and animal life) —
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Biomes are defined by factors such as plant structures (such as trees, shrubs, and grasses), leaf types (such as broadleaf and needleleaf), plant spacing (forest, woodland, savanna), and climate. Unlike ecozones, biomes are not defined by genetic, taxonomic, or historical similarities. Biomes are often identified with particular patterns of ecological succession and climax vegetation (quasi-equilibrium state of the local ecosystem). An ecosystem has many biotopes and a biome is a major habitat type. A major habitat type, however, is a compromise, as it has an intrinsic inhomogeneity. (wikipedia)
• • •
Something is amiss today. This is the easiest NYT puzzle I've ever done. My time was faster than any recorded *Monday* time I have on record this year. I know I've never been under 3 on a Tuesday, and I was at 2:44 today. 2 minutes, 44 seconds. Obscene. Further, this puzzle is frighteningly dull (is that possible?). The theme is very basic, and the fill is a complete snooze. I visibly winced several times, mid-solve, at proximate garbage like ESAI next to ASTA, OBIT next to ALOE, etc. Ooxteplernon is well pleased. Even the "tough" stuff was crosswordese I've already mastered, i.e. BIOME, UELE (53D: River to the Ubangi), YEGG, and ABEAM (5A: Crosswise, on deck). One last problem: this same theme was in the NYT six years ago (June 22, 2004). ROTARY DIAL was even a theme answer in it. So were MOLTEN LAVA, JAMES IVORY, and MUSCLE TONE, as well as a short revealer (SOAP). In addition, it had TRADE / NAMES. Always good to check your theme answers against the database to see if what you're doing's been done (well) before. Sarah Keller is a reliable early-week pro, which only adds to the mysterious oddballness of this puzzle.
Theme answers:
20A: Keypad forerunner (ROTARY DIAL)
33A: Ghana, once (GOLD COAST)
41A: Body suit shade, perhaps (FLESH TONE)
52A: One of two in a Christmas song (TURTLEDOVE)
Only place I hesitated even a little was in getting into the NE. Didn't get EARTHY right off the bat (24A: Coarse, as humor), and so had to go inside the section and work my way back out. This proved no problem at all. Changed my original GMC to AMC and I was on my way (25D: Onetime Jeep mfr.).
I think that's it for today. Not enough interesting material to do a "Bullets" section. I liked the ARGYLE STUNTMAN column (5D: Pattern named for a Scottish county + 39D: Movie double, often), but not much beyond that. See you tomorrow.
THEME: ICE CREAM (62A: Cold treat that can precede the last word of 18-, 23-, 40- or 50-Across) — gives you an ICE CREAM BAR, CONE, SANDWICH, and FLOAT
Word of the Day: Robert CULP (41D: Late actor Robert of "I Spy") —
Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an Americanactor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy (1965–1968), the espionageseries in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents. [...] He went on to star in the provocative Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice in 1969, probably the height of his movie career. Another memorable role came as another gunslinger, Thomas Luther Price, in Hannie Caulder (1971) opposite Raquel Welch. A year later, Hickey & Boggs reunited him with Cosby for the first time since I Spy. Culp also directed this feature film, in which he and Cosby portray over-the-hill private eyes. In 1986, he had a primary role as General Woods in the comedy Combat Academy. // Culp played the U.S. President in Alan J. Pakula's 1994 murder mystery The Pelican Brief starring Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts. In all, Culp gave hundreds of performances in a career spanning more than 50 years.
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Happy to have occasion to remember Robert CULP. I watched "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" for the first time last month and loved it. DVD features a wonderful commentary by the surviving main actors, which at the time included CULP. He came across as a warm and smart man who really loved what he did. I finished listening to that commentary and thought "I should pay more attention to this guy's career." "I Spy" was before my time (before my birth, actually).
I'm always somewhat surprised to see "word that can precede / follow" puzzles in the NYT, especially when they're this straightforward. Old hat. Not terribly ambitious. However, as this type of theme goes, I thought this one was just fine, with a couple of really lovely theme answers. Always good to have your central, marquee answer be the best thing about the grid. Today, a snazzy KNUCKLESANDWICH really livens up the grid, and it looks especially good sitting on top of TRIXIE ("Sitting on Top of TRIXIE" being Ed Norton's highly unsuccessful guide to a successful marriage) (44A: Alice's best friend on "The Honeymooners"). I also like TRAFFICCONE, if only for that double-C in the middle. Whole thing looks like an Italian last name. ORNE (39A: French river or department) and ATTU (43A: Westernmost of the Aleutians) make me sad, but most of the rest of the fill is just fine. I had only a couple of slow-downs. First, in and around ORNE, largely because I went with OISE at first, and then didn't get DRIP at all as a "feature" of an icicle (29D: Icicle feature). To me, a drip is separate from the icicle proper, but I see how the clue works just fine. I later had a minor snag in the SE, where I decided to go with TAMBLA (!) at 49D: Indian percussion (TOMTOM). I see now, that I was thinking of the TABLA, which is, in fact, an Indian percussion instrument. TAMBLAS are the percussion instruments they play at NAMBLA meetings. Or so I hear.
Theme answers:
18A: It's directly below V-B-N-M (SPACE BAR)
23A: Highway safety marker (TRAFFIC CONE)
40A: Punch in the mouth, slangily (KNUCKLE SANDWICH)
50A: Homecoming display (PARADE FLOAT)
Is the SNIFF of 38D: [Well, see if I care!] supposed to be the sound of someone who is crying because his/her feelings are hurt? Or is it someone who's simply indignant at being snubbed? Looking over the grid, I did a double take on IFAT (48A: "___ first you don't succeed ..."). Read it as "I, FAT" (a la "I, CLAUDIUS" or "I, TINA"). Eat enough ICE CREAM, and that can be the title of your autobiography. "This is your ASS ... this is your ASS on ICE CREAM" (literally depicted in the grid) (56A: Pompous fool).
Bullets:
1A: Establishments with mirrored balls (DISCOS) — "mirrored balls" being the male equivalent of "Vajazzling," I think (you can thank Brendan Quigley for introducing me to that word)
21A: Relative of a raccoon (COATI) — one of those I-ending words you should just know. It's not uncommon in xwords.
19A: French filmdom (CINE) — crosswords being the one place where the word "filmdom" is really thriving.
24D: Verbal brickbats (FLAK) — now BRICKBATS would make a great answer.
37D: Prepared for takeoff (TAXIED) — this word always makes me think of this song:
["As we TAXIED down the runway / I could hear the people shout..."]
Congratulations to Duke, and to Butler, for that matter.
Oh, that means someone has (just now) won the 2010 OOXTEPLERNON NCAA Men's Basketball Pool Competition — let me see who it is ... It's J. Johnson, aka FlamingoJoe 1. Contact me, Joe, so I can get you your copy of Bob Klahn's "The Wrath of Klahn" crossword book ASAP. Notable finishers in the competition also include Crosscan in 3rd, Orange in 6th, and PuzzleGirl in 9th. For the record, I had Duke out in the second round. Genius!
Word of the Day: DOGES (48D: Venetian rulers of old) — Doge (plural dogi or doges) is a dialectal Italian word that descends from the Latindux (as does the English duke and the standard Italian duce), meaning "leader", especially in a military context. The wife of a Doge is styled a Dogaressa. [!!??] // The title of Doge was used for the elected chief of state in a number of Italian "crowned republics". The two best known such republics were Venice (where he was called a Doxe) and Genoa, which rivaled each other, and the other regional great powers, by building their historical city-states into maritime, commercial, and territorial mini-empires.
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A standard vowel progression puzzle. Nice long Acrosses flanking the central answer. Other than that, not a lot to say. Fill is adequate and largely unremarkable. Puzzle, forgettable.
Theme answers:
17A: Humor publication since 1952 (MAD Magazine)
25A: Docs-to-be (MED students)
38A: Tricky operation for extending a plane's flight (MIDair refueling)
46A: Lionel products (MODel trains)
57A: Dirty campaign tactic (MUD slinging)
In these kinds of puzzles, where your choices of potential theme answers are vast, I expect the theme answers to be new, fresh, exciting. I want to see something that dances. These are not bad — MIDAIR REFUELING is actually pretty cool — but overall they average out to ho-hum. Again, the loveliest thing about the grid is the middle, with that nice central theme answer and its seemingly related neighbors, PRETTIEST and HEAD-TO-TOE (32A: All-encompassing). Hate the clue on PRETTIEST, though (41A: Causing the most wolf whistles, perhaps). I don't think of wolf whistles as a good barometer of PRETTINESS. SKANKINESS? Perhaps. Wolf whistlers are bound to give a woman a good HEAD-TO-TOE look, so, though the wolf whistling is creepy, it's strangely apt. Apt!
Bullets:
14A: Golfer Palmer, informally (Arnie) — like that this is in the vicinity of ARMIES (20A: What generals command), since ARNIE had one, famously.
26D: Language derived from Hindustani (Urdu) – Now HINDUSTANI is a word I haven't seen in the grid. That, I would like. URDU ... is crosswordese.
40D: Film director Martin (Ritt) — many of you don't know him. I know because my blog was flooded with searches for him last time he appeared. Maybe you remembered him this time.
55D: Former New York cardinal Edward (Egan) — also the first governor of Alaska. Well, not *this* EGAN. William A. EGAN.
54A: Mame on Broadway (Auntie) — crossing 44D: Dead set against (anti). Interesting.
A long time ago, I was solving this puzzle and got stuck at an unguessable (to me) crossing: N. C. WYETH crossing NATICK at the "N"—I knew WYETH but forgot his initials, and NATICK ... is a suburb of Boston that I had no hope of knowing. It was clued as someplace the Boston Marathon runs through (???). Anyway, NATICK— the more obscure name in that crossing—became shorthand for an unguessable cross, esp. where the cross involves two proper nouns, neither of which is exceedingly well known. NATICK took hold as crossword slang, and the term can now be both noun ("I had a NATICK in the SW corner...") or verb ("I got NATICKED by 50A / 34D!")
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