Eponymous mineralogist Friedrich / SUN 9-3-23 / Hindu scripture on meditation / Ancient manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves / Medical attendants at boxing matches / Shiny balloon material / Soup stock in Japanese cuisine / Titular love object on old TV / TV personality often referring to himself in the third person

Constructor: Dylan Schiff

Relative difficulty: Easy

THEME: "Computer Games" — circled squares in the top half of the grid represent literally some computer-related phenomena, which are named in the bottom half of the grid:

Theme answers:

• HATE MAIL / EMAIL ATTACHMENT (22A: Derby, for one / 65A: What a paper clip may indicate online ... as represented in 22-Across) [A derby is a HAT … and then EMAIL is “attached” to HAT … to make (unclued) HATE MAIL]
• SURF THE NET / SPREADSHEET (29A: Wander around online / 92A: Excel offering ... as represented in 29-Across) [the word SHEET is “spread” throughout the phrase SURF THE NET]
• LINCOLN PARK / BROKEN LINK (35A: Chicago neighborhood with a namesake zoo / 100A: It may lead to a 404 error page ... as represented in 35-Across) [the word LINK is “broken” inside the name LINCOLN PARK]
• THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS / POP-UP ADS (59A: Ancient manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves / 109A: Browser annoyances ... as represented in 59-Across) [the word ADS literally “pops up” in the middle of DEAD SEA SCROLLS (as it’s represented in the grid]

Word of the Day: TERRENCE Mann (46D: Tony-nominated actor Mann) —

Terrence Vaughan Mann (born July 1, 1951) is an American theatre, film and television actor and baritone singer. He is best known for his appearances on the Broadway stage, which include Chester Lyman in Barnum, The Rum Tum Tugger in Cats, Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, The Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Chauvelin in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, King Charlemagne in Pippin, Mal Beineke in The Addams Family, and The Man in the Yellow Suit in Tuck Everlasting. He has received three Tony Award nominations, an Emmy Award nomination, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical. 

His film credits include the Critters series, A Chorus Line, Big Top Pee-wee and Solarbabies. He also starred as the villain Whispers in the Netflix series Sense8 from 2015 to 2018. He is a distinguished professor of musical theatre at Western Carolina University, and is an artistic director of the Carolina Arts Festival and the North Carolina Theatre. (wikipedia)

• • •

The word that best describes this puzzle is "anti-climactic." That is, the "computer games" that are going on up top, with the circled squares, are all pretty obvious, so that by the time you get to the bottom, you're probably not gonna have anything like an aha moment when you get, say, BROKEN LINK. You can see that LINK is "broken" inside LINCOLN PARK, and you can see that the title of the puzzle is "Computer Games," and you can see that while there are circles in the top half of the grid, there are none in the bottom, and so, yeah, I knew the bottom was just gonna be explanations of what was going on up top, and what was going on up top was, as I say, pretty obvious. I will admit that I thought HATEMAIL was going to have something to do with "spam," i.e. unwanted EMAIL, so EMAIL ATTACHMENT surprised me a bit, but the others did not. You can see the SHEET spreading in SURF THE NET, you can see the ADS popping up in THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. So there was no gas left in the tank there at the end. Things just kind of sputter to a conclusion. The little turned-up ADS bit was probably the most interesting thing, thematically. Otherwise, kind of a shrug today. The puzzle is very easy, so I imagine a lot of people will be fairly warmly disposed toward it. But after the first answer or two, the puzzle has nothing left to surprise you with. And the fill, while mostly solid, is no great shakes. Kinda BEIGE, overall, this one.

["Searching for my / Lost shaker of SALT" — RIP Jimmy]

Two proper nouns right in the middle of the grid—symmetrical sentinels—were the only things I didn't know today. TERRENCE Mann? TED ALLEN? (48D: Longtime host of Food Network's "Chopped"). I'll take the puzzle's word for it that these people are who the puzzle says they are. Most everyone else, from Ginger ROGERS to ADELE to Zora NEALE Hurston, was familiar to me. Had a bit of trouble with ISRAEL (25A: Biblical name that means "one who struggles with God") because I though ISMAEL might be the name in question, and IN REASON, yeesh, what? (14D: With good sense). I've heard the phrase "within reason," but just IN REASON? Nuh uh. Just 'cause your massive word list tells you something's good doesn't mean it is. Ooh, what's DASHI, I totally missed that when I was solving (13D: Soup stock in Japanese cuisine). Must've just filled it in entirely from crosses. Once again, no-looking an answer proves to be to my great advantage. I have heard of DASHI, but I definitely would not have remembered it. Along with IN REASON, I can't really imagine "CARES of the world" either (76A: ___ of the world). I haven't a care in the world, that's an imaginable phrase. I guess "far from the CARES of the world" is semi-familiar, but it feels quaint, and it did not come to me quickly at all. Speaking of quaint, ILL USAGE? I think I know ILL USE, but that also sounds quaint. This puzzle is scoring low on the freshness factor, is what I'm saying. Not a big fan of VERSE crossing AVERSE. Once Letter strings of longer than four letters generally shouldn't be duped at all, and certainly shouldn't be crossed, especially when (in this case) we're talking about one of those strings being a whole-ass word. I also don't really get the clue on VERSE (96D: Writer's block?). VERSE is no more a "block" (of text?) than any other bunch of text is. I do like the symmetrical pair of SHUTTERS and CURTAINS. Very windowy. Very nice.

Notes:

• 67D: Ptolemy was one, famously (ASTROLOGER) — wow, really thought he was an astronomer. I mean, he was. But apparently also this other thing. According to wikipedia, Ptolemy (who lived during the second century AD), was a "mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist."
• 103A: Class speakers, for short (PAS) — oof. Not sure why you opt for this cluing of PAS instead of the plural slang of "fathers" or the French word for "not" (or "step," i.e. "Faux PAS"), but apparently someone thought "public address (systems)" would be a good idea, so here we are. 
• 44A: "___ for Tinhorns" ("Guys and Dolls" number) ("FUGUE") — No idea. And I've seen (the movie version of) "Guys and Dolls." This must be some desperate attempt to make a very easy puzzle a little bit harder.

• 113A: Tours with? (AVEC) — "Tours" is a place in France, and AVEC is French ... for "with."
• 72D: Diamond theft (STOLEN BASE) — presumably by now you know that the "diamond" in question is a baseball diamond. I did not know that until after several crosses into BASE. Wanted STOLEN ICE or STOLEN GEMS or something like that. 

I still haven't had time to review all the puzzles for July and August to figure out my favorites, so I'm deferring the "Best of..." for another week, I think. See you then (or whenever).

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Longtime media columnist David / SUN 8-2-20 / Bird also known as little auk / Longtime Yankees first baseman Mark / Hedge fund titan nicknamed Palindrome / Gish novelist of Resisters Typical American / Mixed Marriage playwright st john greer / Mythical creature on old Bhtanese stamps

Constructor: David Levinson Wilk

Relative difficulty: Average

THEME: "Puzzlin'" — familiar phrases with -ING words in them are reclued as if the "G" were the first letter in the next word in the phrase and the -ING word were changed to a slangy "-IN'" ending:

Theme answers:

• STANDIN' GROOM ONLY (23A: Nobody but the guy gettin' married on his feet?)
• EVERLASTIN' GLOVE (38A: Winter item you'll be wearin' for years?)
• FALLIN' GRAIN (58A: Danger when walkin' in a silo?)
• PARKIN' GRAMP (69A: Drivin' around the lot with pop-pop?)
• QUALIFYIN' ROUND (87A: Sayin' "Look, here's the thing about dry land ..."?)
• FEAR OF MISSIN' GOUT (102A: What was causin' the doctor to check for joint pain?)

Word of the Day: ANN MEYERS (56D: Basketball Hall-of-Famer who was the first woman to sign an N.B.A. contract) —

Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers; March 26, 1955) is an American former basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional levels.

Meyers was the first player to be part of the U.S. national team while still in high school. She was the first woman to be signed to a four-year athletic scholarship for college, at UCLA.^[1] She was also the second woman to sign a contract with a National Basketball Association team, the Indiana Pacers (1979). Her USA World Champion team member Lusia "Lucy" Harris-Stewart was the first woman to sign with an NBA team in 1977, the New Orleans Jazz. (wikipedia)

• • •

I don't even know what to say. I don't understand who this puzzle is for. It feels like it's for 1996 or maybe 1985. The theme ... the "jokes" all seems so forced and corny. I mean, the clue on QUALIFYIN' GROUND, for instance, doesn't even make any real sense. "Dry land"? That is your GROUND? And you are imagining someone ... adding some kind of information about "dry land" ... as a form of qualification? It's just so head-shakingly sad, all of this. I'm all for simple and cute, but if this is simple (and I guess it is), the results were repeatedly groany, and not in a "good one!" kind of way. Also the puzzle is really hurt by its low word count. It wants to look impressive by having these big banks of long answers, but they are really costly. NERD ALERT and maybe PHONE SEX are the only answers that seem really nice. Meanwhile, in the "costly" department, we have primo junk like IIN (!?!?) and GOI and ENTO and ASET and AFOE (!?!?!?) and these names, my god, so many names that are clearly only here because they have so many favorable (i.e. RLSTNE) letters in them: ERVINE CABELLO ANNMEYERS NEY MEADE (really, *two* crosswordese military leaders?). GRAMP is not a thing (it's GRAMPS or GRAMPA). OUCHIES is 6000% not a thing. ENNUIS absolutely cannot be pluralized in any reasonable context, my goodness, come on (78D: Ho-hum feelings). Deep mothball smell coming off of this one. I don't know why making a delightful, joyful, or even just light and airy Sunday puzzle is so, so hard. NESPRESSO!? Nespress-no. AALARGE (?), USEALOT (!?!?!). It was a groan-out-loud solve, for sure. ENDE (ugh) of story.


I finished with an error that I absolutely could not find. This is because I had LIE IN instead of LIE ON (40D: Treat as a bed), because I lie in bed, not on bed, and also because ERIS is a goddess so I didn't really think twice about that answer. Now, if I'd read the clue closely ... it would've been a good idea to think twice about it, since the clue was actually asking for a *god* (52A: God who becomes a goddess when an "r" is removed) (EROS). I never bother with those "remove this letter and carry the eight to get another thing!"-type clues. It's a crossword, not a child's rebus puzzle in Highlights magazine. Just clue the answer. Sigh. Anyway, that's all clearly my fault, but since LIE IN is a very plausible answer, and ERIS is in the god/goddess family, you can see (I hope) how finding that particular mistake was well-nigh impossible. Do people call cop cars / squad cars / police cars "RADIO CARS" anymore??? (46A: Receiver of an all-points bulletin). Again, I wonder about what year this puzzle was made in / intended for. The name-y-ness of the puzzle was a little extreme. Count them. There are a lot, and especially a lot up top. TEIXEIRA JEN ERVINE CABELLO SNERT MEADE SHARPTON NEY are all very densely packed in that N/NE section. See also CARR JAYNE CAAN ANNMEYERS NESPRESSO, wow. Names always feel good when you know them and terrible when you don't. Name-dense puzzles are thus dangerous. Not sure EVITE and EBOOK belong in the same grid if you can avoid it. You can leave me the SQUISHY ZEBRAFISH and honestly take most of the rest of this and dispose of it. I just don't understand how this concept qualifies as acceptable fare for the "best puzzle in the country."


So Lollapuzzoola, one of the two crossword tournaments I think are worth going to, would normally be happening in NYC this month, but ... well, you know. Look around at the hellscape that your putrid national leadership hath wrought. Good news, though—the tournament is still happening, entirely on-line, in just under 2 weeks (Saturday, Aug. 15)! Here's organizer Brian Cimmet to tell you all about it:

It’s almost time for the greatest crossword tournament ever held on a Saturday in August – Lollapuzzoola 13 is taking place virtually on Saturday, August 15! There will be five tournament puzzles, extra (optional) games peppered throughout the event, and two skill divisions in which to vie for championship bragging rights. Visit http://bemoresmarter.com/lollapuzzoola for more information and to sign up today!

I expect they're going to break "attendance" records since everyone has equal access to the tourney, wherever they live, and people are understandably desperate for human community of a fun-loving nature. Anyway, you should do this. The in-person version of the tourney is always delightful, and I can't imagine the on-line version would be anything less.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Martin star of 1960s TV's Route 66 / SUN 7-26-20 / Site of Bocca Nuova crater / Hairy hunter of Genesis / Nickname of 2010s pop idol / Bird in Liberty Mutual commercials / Role in 2005 hit musical Jersey Boys / What Winthrop speaks with in Music Man / Nine-symbol message / Rule that ended in 1947 / Shrub that produces crimson-colored spice

Constructor: Trenton Charlson

Relative difficulty: Medium (11:27) (the cocktail I had with dinner probably slowed me some...) 

THEME: "MADE-TO-ORDER" — random words in familiar phrases are anagrammed to create wacky phrases ... turns out that in each case, the anagram involves putting the letters in alphabetical order (47D: Kind of order for the circled letters in this puzzle => ABC):

Theme answers:

• SQUARE CHIN (22A: Facial feature of a Lego man?) (from "square inch")
• HOST IN THE DARK (33A: Emcee during a power outage?) (from "shot in the dark")
• ACES DISMISSED (48A: "The elite fighter pilots may skip the rest of the lecture"?) (from "case dismissed!")
• ABET AROUND THE BUSH (67A: Drive a getaway care through Australia's outback?) (from "beat around the bush")
• BEGIN WATCHING (89A: What you might do after the movie previews are finally over?) (but ... weren't you ... "watching" ... the previews?) (from "binge-watching")
• BELOW MACARONI (106A: Where spaghetti and orzo rank in terms of their suitability for making necklaces?) (from "elbow macaroni")
• OCEAN DEIST (120A: One who believes exclusively in a sea god?) (from "ocean tides")

Word of the Day: PASTORALE (83D: Piece of music that evokes the countryside) —

n. pl. pas·to·ra·li (-rä′lē) or pas·to·rales

1. An instrumental or vocal composition with a tender melody in a moderately slow rhythm, suggestive of traditional shepherds' music and idyllic rural life.

2. A dramatic performance or opera, popular in the 1500s and 1600s, that was based on a rural theme or subject. (thefreedictionary.com)

• • •

I don't think you understand. The entire time I'm solving, I'm honestly thinking, "Come on, puzzle! Show me something! Wow me! Surprise me! Entertain me! You can do it!" I. Want. To. Like. Puzzles. I acknowledge that Sunday is very hard to do well, because themes are just hard to do well in general, and then on Sunday your theme has to be so good that it doesn't become taxing over the course of a large 21x21 grid. But this is why Sundays pay the most. It's the most-solved day of the week. I get my most traffic (by far) on this day of the week. Like ... yeah, it's hard, but this is the Big Time, so shine, already! Today is a good example of why I find the NYTXW Sunday so exasperating. There's just nothing here. There's a thing that *feels* like a theme. I mean, there is a concept. And that concept extends across the longer Across answers. There is wackiness, of a sort. But there is nothing in the way of genuine cleverness or joy. The "alphabetical order" thing ... honestly, I didn't notice. Not while solving, not after. Someone had to tell me. I never saw the revealer, or it didn't register (look at where it is). I just didn't see a clue / answer anywhere indicating that the anagrams involve arranging the letters in alphabetical order, but more importantly, I truly, genuinely, with all my heart, don't understand why a solver is supposed to care? Solvers are going to anagram, based on information in the clue (familiar phrase where one word is clearly re-ordered). And the anagrams are just words. You can *tell* me they're words that have letters that appear in alphabetical order. But ABET is just ABET. It's not hard. For instance, LOST is a word where all the letters are in alphabetical order. And so what? I don't look at any of the anagrammed words and think "wow, the letters in that word are in alphabetical order." BELOW is just a word; I have never cared, and do not now care, that those letters are in alphabetical order. The puzzle is deeply concerned about a thing that I, as a solver, not only am not concerned about, but never even saw. How is that good? And the resulting phrases aren't even funny, my god, you can make up for So Much if you can just hit the "Funny" mark on occasion. But no. And the fill isn't even good, so there's nothing to make up for the sadness of the theme. If you want to see how a simple concept can be enjoyable, look at last Sunday's puzzle. This ... I don't know what this is. I truly don't understand how this passes muster.


There's not much to comment on here. NW corner was where I started and was probably the hardest for me, as I don't remember Winthrop from "The Music Man" (was that ... Ron Howard??), so LISP, hard (1D: What Winthrop speaks with in "The Music Man"). LASS, with that clue, hard (1A: Miss). I still only barely get the clue for ICON (18A: Where a phone might be tapped). I guess I do tap icons on my phone ... seems like more of a "what" than a "where," but OK. No idea about BOBCAT (53A: New Cub Scout). That's not even ... the right ... species? ... or is that not important? Also, I don't care. Cluing seemed maybe harder than usual, overall, but I am drunker than usual, overall, so it's probably just average (note: I've had exactly one drink so don't Worry, I'm just a lightweight—it's a good thing). Only a couple real mistakes today. Thought Winthrop spoke with a TUBA (LOL) and thought LOTT succeeded Frist even though I sorta knew that was chronologically messed up (23D: Frist's successor as Senate majority leader = REID).


Anyway, as for the theme. it's totally possible that I'm just an idiot and missed the "alphabetical order" thing when every other solver could see exactly what was going on ... but somehow I doubt it. The title doesn't tell us enough. "MADE-TO-ORDER" just has "order" in it, and I took it to mean "we've put the letters in a new order" (i.e. anagrammed them), not "we've put these letters in alphabetical order." I went with anagram, not alphabetizing. Seeing what I missed changes my feelings about the puzzle not one bit; if anything, it makes me more disappointed—I just can't believe no one thought about whether this particular twist would add pleasure to the solving experience. Because clearly no one did. I wish the news were better. I'm sorry. Have a nice day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

First man in Maori mythology / SUN 7-19-20 / Ancestor of modern lemon lime / Club setting for scenes in GoodFellas Raging Bull / Worried exclamation from Astro on Jetsons / Palate cleansers between courses / Beat poem allegedly inspired by peyote vision / Pyle's portrayer

Constructor: Wyna Liu

Relative difficulty: Medium (Medium-Challenging if, like me, you've a had a drink) (10:50)

THEME: "DOUBLES PLAY" — familiar phrases where double letters have replaced parts of words—the letters are meant to be uttered as letters. Thus:

Theme answers:

• TRAPPARTISTS ("-peze") (22A: *Performers who set the bar high?)
• CC THE DAY ("seize") (24A: *Go-getter's maxim)
• DIZZCONTROL ("-sease") (39A: *Public health agency's mission)
• STRIPTT ("tease") (48A: *Feature of a Chippendales show)
• AMUUMENTPARKS ("-use") (67A: *Places for coasters)
• CLOCKYY ("-wise") (84A: *How to screw in a light bulb)
• OLDDSTATION ("-dies") (91A: *What keeps up standards in the radio business?)
• GGLOUISE ("jeez") (110A: *"Holy moly!")
• SURPRIIPARTY ("-ise") (114A: *Occasion for hiding in the dark)

Word of the Day: ELAINE Welteroth (103A: Author/magazine editor Welteroth) —

Elaine Marie Welteroth (born December 10, 1986) is an American journalist, editor^[2]and New York Times best-selling author. In April 2016, Welteroth was named editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, making her the second person of African-American heritage in Condé Nast's 107-year history to hold such a title. Her promotion to editor at age 29 makes her the second youngest editor in Condé Nast history, behind current Teen Vogue EIC Lindsay Peoples Wagner who was 28 when she started in the role in Condé Nast. When she became beauty director of Teen Vogue in 2012, Welteroth was the first person of African-American heritage to serve in the role. She is credited for the notable increase of Teen Vogue coverage of politics and social justice, encouraging readers to become civically engaged, specifically during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Under Welteroth's leadership of Teen Vogue's shifting format, the magazine developed its first YouTube channel, featuring content on diverse subjects from campus style to cultural appropriation. The final print edition of Teen Vogue was December 2017.

On January 11, 2018, Welteroth resigned from Teen Vogue and moved to California and signed with CAA. In June 2019 her memoir, More Than Enough: Claiming space for who you are (no matter what they say), was published by Viking. (wikipedia)

• • •

Got TRAPPARTISTS and didn't stop to think about it much. My main thought was "OK, the "eze" part went somewhere ... didn't turn the corner or go anywhere visible, so ... I dunno ... 'P' seems to be standing in for 'eze' ... just keep going, I'm sure it'll become clear. Then I got DIZZ- and had no idea what I could be looking at there. Then finally got into a mess in the NE corner and just *knew* it was "seize the day," and I had the one "C" so ... boom, two "C"s, "Cs The Day," nailed it. Then DI(Zs) CONTROL became obvious and none of the themers were very hard from then on out (though I wanted to write in SURPRISE PARTT at first; gotta read the clues carefully!). And I don't know, I kinda liked this theme. Actually, I think it was just fine. It's a simple and cute gimmick, nothing flashy, but there are different double letters every time, and discovering those letters was kinda fun. I think my bar for Sundays is just Don't Face Plant / Don't Exhaust Me, and this puzzle managed to clear that bar / those bars. The fill struck me as at or above average, so for the first time in a while, I mostly enjoyed a Sunday puzzle.


Today may be the only time I've ever thought "hey, why aren't these two answers cross-referenced?" I'm talking about OSSIE Davis (8D: National Medal of Arts winner Davis) and Ruby DEE (46A: Actress and civil rights activist Ruby ___) both being in the puzzle, so close they're almost touching, but with no indication in either clue that they were married. For *57* years! Iconic couple! I'm not mad that their clues weren't linked, but if ever there was a time to link clues in a way that didn't seem annoying or forced, this was it! The NE was important because that's where I first grokked the theme, but it was also a tumultuous and tough corner. I've heard of pressing the panic *button*, but PANICBAR, less so (11A: Something pressed in an emergency). ARCSEC ... yeesh, trig abbrs. are always guesswork for me, and that one I haven't seen in forever. In fact, this is the first time it's ever appeared in a NYTXW. Ever. Ever ever. Speaking of repeated-word phrases: LIKE LIKE! It's very apt, and I one-like like it, but man it was hard for me to get. The whole interconnected set from LIKELIKE through ELAINE (never heard of her) down CITRON (barely heard of it) into INO (thought it was -ITO), really took some effort. Ooh, and ROS is down there too, ick. ROS and NERTS are probably the only moments where I winced—very crosswordesey. But I didn't recoil in horror anywhere else, so that's pretty good, esp. for a Sunday-sized puzzle.


My Kiwi wife and I both botched the Maori mythology clue. We both (it turns out, I just learned) wrote in MAUI, who is really important in Maori mythology ... just not the "first man," I guess. Neither of us had any idea that a TIKI was anything other than a totem or figure. I made things especially difficult on myself by abandoning that part of the puzzle to solve other parts, and then, on coming back, not relooking at the clues and completely misremembering which was the Maori answer. So ... when I came back, my brain had the Maori mythology clue in mind, but kept trying to make it work for 53-Down! I had HO-RU and that terminal "U" seemed plausibly Maori, and then when I got HOWRU I thought "that can't be right, there'd never be a 'W' there in Maori, and who the hell is supposed to know that anyway. HOWRU!? Who the hell was HOWRU!?" And then a few seconds later I learned about TIKI and realized that HOWRU was HOW space R space U (the answer to the textspeak clue). HOWRU is now one of my personal gods. Not a big fan of that answer as "textspeak" but I now believe in the divine, destructive power of the god HOWRU, hallowed be Its name.


Hey, you should know that JASA (Jewish Association for Services for the Aged) is having an online crossword fundraising event, Wednesday, July 29, from 7-8:30pm EDT. You may know JASA from their crossword classes, which regularly construct puzzles that appear in the NYTXW. You've solved them, I'm sure of it! They've had puzzles published nineteen times! Anyway, this virtual event will be an "up-close look at crosswords with the puzzlemasters themselves, featuring the Times's Will Shortz." For more information and to purchase tickets, please go here. And have a happy Sunday, everyone.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Woods who voiced Cinderella / SUN 7-12-20 / Onscreen twins often / Children's author Richard / Tale of Puddle-Duck Beatrix Potter book / mess traditional English dessert / Fool in canadian slang /

Constructor: Samuel A. Donaldson

Relative difficulty: Easy (9:01) (usually gotta be under 9 for "Easy" but since I've had a DRINK and it's HOT I'm gonna adjust the scale a little)

THEME: "Chores Galore" — chores, clued as if they refer to something wacky (based on an alternate interpretation of a word in the chore phrase):

Theme answers:

• TAKE OUT THE TRASH (23A: Chore for a censor?)
• DO THE DISHES (28A: Chore for a TV technician?)
• SWEEP THE FLOOR (42A: Chore for a security guard?)
• GO TO THE BANK (67A: Chore for a rower?)
• SORT THE MAIL (73A: Chore for a knight?)
• PICK UP THE TOYS (97A: Chore for a dog-walker?)
• PAY THE BILLS (114A: Chore for an N.F.L. owner?)
• CLEAN THE GUTTERS (121A: Chore for a bowling alley employee?)

Word of the Day: ILENE Woods (107D: Woods who voiced Cinderella) —

Jacqueline Ruth "Ilene" Woods (May 5, 1929 – July 1, 2010) was an American actress and singer. Woods was the original voice of the title character of the Walt Disney animated feature Cinderella, for which she was named a Disney Legend in 2003. (wikipedia)

• • •

Speaking of chores... This is really grim. I truly don't understand who(m) this puzzle is amusing. It's dad-pun stuff, but not even groaners, just boring stuff. Truly, indescribably boring, all of the alleged humor here. Sometimes the jokes don't even make good jokey sense. Like, in what way do "censors" TAKE OUT THE TRASH? Would you, or anyone, really, ever, refer to profanity or nudity or whatever might get censored by a censor as "trash"? What year is it? Did a suburban mom in 1957 write this?  I also just don't get GO TO THE BANK—what does that have to do with a challenge to a rower? Is it a "challenge" to "row" to the "bank" ... of a river? That doesn't sound like a chore. I mean, you rowed away from the bank, presumably, how is rowing to it a "chore"? I feel like ... there's this lowest common denominator, looks-and-feels-like-stuff-we've-seen-a-million-times, written-by-a-million-white-guys-type theme that is just allowed to continue to play out over and over and over, particularly in Sunday puzzles. It's tepid, weak, anodyne, and absolutely soul-sucking. This editor brags routinely about the six thousand or whatever submissions he gets each year, basically as a way of saying "f- you, I never have to change 'cause if you stop submitting there are a thousand who will take your place." But the typical submission must be hilariously terrible if what we're seeing on a regular basis is truly the cream of the crop. I think he just publishes stuff that feels familiar, like stuff he's done every week since the mid-'90s, by loyalists who just churn it out. Competent bland work, over and over and over. There's no reason puzzles have to be like this. We've just been trained to think that this is how they *are*. "It's the NYTXW, so it must be the best." Well, no.


The fill made me wince repeatedly. There's not a damn thing worth highlighting. AT THE OPERA? Like ... what? That's a partial. Get the whole title in your grid, and I'll applaud, but just AT THE OPERA!? My god, what the hell? Never heard of a RODEWAY INN (are these regional?), and yet somehow I want to say that that's the best answer in the grid, because it's one of the only non-theme answers longer than seven letters and the only one besides "HERE'S HOW!" that's kinda lively. UDO MIDI WIIU ELIM SRO AHH TSU (!?), etc etc. When there's not a lot of interesting fill, that short stuff starts to grate, badly. I guess they're gonna bring back the duck clue for JEMIMA now that the racist caricature of a syrup mascot has been thrown overboard in the wake of BLM protests this summer. I think you're probably better off just Deleting JEMIMA from your word list entirely. You can do without it. I know you can. I have no idea what TATES is (are?). [Crispy cookie brand]!? I'm staring at a bag of them and can confidently say I've never seen these things in my whole damn half century of life.

The family on "Soap," they were the TATES, right? And "the STEEPS?" I am making the yuckiest face at that answer. I used to ski in California in the '80s and I don't remember such cutesiness. I don't know why this puzzle couldn't just focus on being ... better. More interesting conceptually. Better fill. Getting cute with the clues on short fill isn't gonna move the needle, although it can augment irksomeness. With apologies to fans of Disney princesses (and "Mr. Belvedere"), there are no famous ILENEs. I have spoken. End the Sunday madness / badness. It's maddening / baddening.


Hey, you want to have some weird throwback crossword fun? Yeah, you do. Speed-solving legend Dan Feyer has a couple of puzzle sets from the '80s/'90s available for free on his blog. First, there's a trove of Something Different puzzles (my favorite puzzle type—absolute wacky madness). You can read what they are and download them in .puz format here. Then there's a bunch of diagramless, themed, and themeless puzzles, also from the '80s/90s, which he just made available here. All puzzles were originally published in Stanley Newman's "Crossworder's OWN Newsletter" (later renamed "Tough Puzzles"). The constructors are all All-Stars from 30+ years ago (including the great Merl Reagle). It's such a treat to have these available. Keep in mind that they are somewhat dated and also generally very hard. There's some ... uh ... mild cringeworthy / culturally insensitive stuff in the fill. cluing, on occasion. But overall, the craftsmanship and wit on display here is Remarkable. So enjoy.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Eeyore-ish sentiment / SUN 7-5-20 / Czech reformer Jan / First of metalloids / What Franklin famously asked for / Org that kicked off again in 2020 after a 19-year hiatus / Ka southernmost point on Hawaii

Constructor: Laura Taylor Kinnel

Relative difficulty: Easy? Medium? (I was slow 'cause I had a drink)

THEME: "To-Do List" — you have to TICK ALL THE BOXES (43D: Be fully qualified ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme); that is, there are squares that have "BOX" in them (rebus-style) in the Acrosses, but you have to put (or imagine) "TICK" in that same space in order to make sense of the Down crosses:

Theme answers:

• SOAPBOX (18A: Orator's platform) / STICKY SITUATIONS (7D: Imbroglios)
• TOOLBOX (55A: Set of skills, metaphorically) / TICKLE THE IVORIES (56D: Play piano, informally)
• INBOX (53A: Email holder) / PUTS LIPSTICK ON A PIG (3D: Tries to make the unappealing attractive)
• TOYBOX (75A: Playroom chest) / THAT'S THE TICKET (29D: "You nailed it!")
• BLACK BOX (107A: Flight recorder) / CARROT AND STICK (48D: Combination meant to change behavior)

Word of the Day: Ka LAE (southernmost point on Hawaii) (83A) —

Ka Lae (Hawaiian: the point), also known as South Point, is the southernmost point of the Big Island of Hawaii and of the 50 United States. The Ka Lae area is registered as a National Historic Landmark District under the name South Point Complex. The area is also known for its strong ocean currents and winds and is the home of a wind farm. // The name for the southern tip of the island of Hawaiʻi comes from Ka Lae in the Hawaiian language which means "the point". It is often spelled as one word, Kalae, or called South Point or South Cape. A confluence of ocean currents just offshore makes this spot one of Hawaii's most popular fishing spots. Both red snapper and ulua are plentiful here. Locals fish from the cliffs, some dangling perilously over the edge of steep lava ledges. Swimming here, however, is not recommended, due to the current. In fact, it is called the "Halaea Current", named after a chief who was carried off to his death. (wikipedia)

• • •

I just find Sundays grinding, and this certainly wasn't any different. They're just so big that if you have a one-note theme ... by the end, it just feels like being bludgeoned. The concept here is actually fine, I guess. TICK (as in "put 'tick' in") ALL THE BOXES (as in "all the squares that contain the word 'box'"), and there you go. And go and go and go. There was some annoying ambiguity, in that technically They're All Boxes, i.e. I'm solving a crossword, so yeah, boxes everywhere! Also, I had TOOLS and TOYS early on and those seemed just fine as answers for their respective clues, so seeing the whole "BOX" rebus thing was actually weirdly hard for me. Had to get the revealer before I had any idea what was going on. Did I mention I'd had a drink? I'm sure it played a role in my slow-on-the-uptake-ness, but still, wow, it did not gel for me for a long time. Also, I had S-A-- at 18A: Orator's platform and happily wrote in STAGE. Whoops. Ugh, that section, with "POOR ME" as a "sentiment," yikes. Rough (4D: Eeyore-ish sentiment). Anyway, I can't say this was any worse than your average Sunday puzzle, because conceptually, it was not, but Sundays have to be *so* good not to be grating, both theme-wise and fill-wise, by the end. There's just not enough interesting variation in the theme or enough sparkle in the grid to make this solve an enjoyable experience today.


The fill was (on occasion) not doing the puzzle any favors. REIMAGE!? You *definitely* mean "reimagine" (92D: Form a new mental picture of). Def in it ely. And wow I have such profanity written in the margins with an arrow pointing to NO RELATION (91A: Elizabeth Warren vis-à-vis former chief justice Earl Warren). HUS idea was that clue!? Bah. It's an OUTCROPping (ping!), so again maybe try reimagining (!) that answer (90D: Protruding bit of bedrock). OSAY, can you ALEE by the ERGS IDLY LAE... Sigh. PUTS LIPSTICK ON A PIG is a colorful answer, as is HERDED CATS (69A: Managed an unmanageable group, figuratively). HOT HAND I like fine (38A: Sustained period of luck, as with dice). There's just not enough to sustain my interest over the whole 21x21 area. Sundays are hard hard hard to do well. If I see one I like, I'll let you know and praise it accordingly. Until then... this was pretty typical, and typical just hasn't been cutting it with me for a while.


Hey, there's a massive new collection of crosswords out now, made by an all-star roster of constructors, all to benefit COVID *and* Black Lives Matter / racial justice charities (it started out focused on the former and then, understandably, expanded to include the latter). It's called "Grids For Good." All you gotta do is provide proof you gave just $10 (you can do better than that) to the org of your choice and you get the puzzles. There's also a metapuzzle contest going on through July 18, so you can get in on that too. I haven't done the puzzles yet but (scans list of names) yeah, I know these people. You know them too (Agard, Berry, Burnikel, Weintraub, etc.). They do good work. So go give (or regive) some money away, and then get your puzzles!

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...

Ship with three banks of oars / SUN 6-28-20 / Kingdom east of Babylonia / Jocular lead-in to macation / Slacker role for Jeff Bridges in Big Lebowski / What digitigrade stands on / Foe of Morlocks in sci-fi

Constructor: Jon Schneider and Anderson Wang

Relative difficulty: Medium (10-something)

THEME: "Power-Ups" — the theme is EXPONENTS (20A: Mathematical concepts suggested eight times in this puzzle) ... so the answers to various phrases are various "___ to the ___" phrases, but instead of "to the" being in the grid, it's represented by the post-to the" part of the phrase being (literally) raised "to the" next level in the grid, the way an exponent is written up and to the right of the number of which it is an exponent ... look, I last took math in 1987 and got a C+ in Calc II so I dunno, you get it the whole exponent business, I hope. Sorry I didn't explain it gooder:

Theme answers:

• PLAY to the GALLERY (30A: With 25-Across, get as much approval from an audience as possible)
• ROOTED to the SPOT (33A: With 29-Across, like a deer in headlights)
• PREACH to the CHOIR (50A: With 47-Across, not change anyone's mind, say)
• CUTS to the CHASE (53A: With 48-Across, stops wasting time)
• WASATCH to the PIETA (just kidding)
• THREW to the WOLVES (92A: With 88-Across, sacrificed)
• CLOSE to the BONE (90A: With 85-Across, uncomfortably accurate)
• RACE to the BOTTOM (113A: With 107-Across, bad sort of competition)
• WELCOME to the CLUB (116A: With 112-Across, "Your misfortune is nothing special")

Word of the Day: WASATCH (42A: Utah mountain range) —

The Wasatch Range (/ˈwɑːsætʃ/ WAH-satch) is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about 160 miles (260 km) from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region. The northern extension of the Wasatch Range, the Bear River Mountains, extends just into Idaho, constituting all of the Wasatch Range in that state.

In the language of the native Ute people, Wasatch means "mountain pass" or "low pass over high range." According to William Bright, the mountains were named for a Shoshoni leader who was named with the Shoshoni term wasattsi, meaning "blue heron". (wikipedia)

• • •

I am so saddened by Sundays. They don't seem to know how to be. I feel bad. It's hard to make a good Sunday, because you have to cover a lot of ground, themewise, and so your theme has to have legs. It has to go the distance. It has to be interesting conceptually, but more importantly, it's gotta have gas in the tank. Whatever your gimmick is, it's gotta hold up over 6 to 10 answers, across a 21x21 grid. This means that the individual answers have to have interest; they have to work with the theme but also have some kind of inherent interest—be amusing or cute or novel or something. Also, the non-theme fill should be delightful and occasionally surprising—you gotta get us through a long journey, and just filling the fill with fill from fillville isn't gonna cut it; The Drive Is Too Long. This is a long-winded prelude to my comments on this puzzle, which are, briefly, as follows: the concept is just fine, cute even, but I somehow enjoyed virtually none of it. Not the figuring out the themers and definitely not the filling in the rest of the grid. I just don't think the concept can endure. It's a one-note thing ... and yet there are eight notes, plus the revealer. And the non-theme fill offers virtually nothing interesting. Also, consider: literally Every Single One of your theme clues is a cross-reference—begins "With blah blah blah." That is some built-in tedium right there. Hey, look somewhere else, eight times! Have fun! So, sure, having the theme answer continue up and to the right of where it started, as a way of representing an exponent (and the phrase "to the") is, in fact, clever. But ... I got tired of actually Doing It sooooo fast. And then there's just the fill, which ... well, see below.


PLO-UGH! Is it THE L-WORD or THE L-BOMB? I guess THE L-WORD is the TV show about lesbians, but I think it's also "love," so ... that was odd. I never really got the whole "___ bomb" thing (see also "F-"). I guess I was trained / raised to just say what the f-bomb you mean. Anyway, I bombed that answer. Also bombed WASATCH. The only Utah mountain range I know is UINTA (very crosswordy), and I remember it's in Utah because of the U-thing. WASATCH ... I got no mnemonic for that. Also, I'm unlikely to see WASATCH again, whereas I will *definitely* see UINTA again (five letters, starts "UI-"—your options are pret-ty limited). Not really familiar with term CAT'S PAW either, and PLAY and YEA had tricky clues, so I weirdly struggled in the NW (tho probably not for too long). That NEST clue was weird; wanted PEST (duh) (79D: Exterminator's target). AOKAY is an abomination, never ever written that way, stop. Also stop with ART SCAMS, what? That just doesn't feel like a strong ... thing (87D: They might involve impersonating a dealer). Weird to have a plural of a thing I can't really name more than one of. Name the ART SCAMS! Uh, OK, forgery! There's one. Also ... uh ... uh ... uh ... etc. MEMORY is important for ... school? (125A: Important faculty for school). I mean, I guess. It's important for lots and lots and lots of things. Like finding your way home. I get that you are enjoying your "faculty" pun there, but worry about *others'* enjoyment, and accuracy / aptness, please. ONLAY??? (108D: Dental covering similar to a crown). I know INLAY and then I'm out of _NLAY dental answers. ELAM / ASSAM crossing is not great. I thought a [Place that processes ore] was a SMELTERY. Yes, the SMELTER is the one who dealt ... in smelting, the SMELTERY is the "place" where the smelting happened. Why is this cluing so off and botched. Hit your marks!


I loved "Parasite" but didn't know CHOI Woo-shik's name, so that was a little tough (43D: ___ woo-shik, co-star of 2019's "Parasite"). If you liked "Parasite," I recommend "The Host," a 2006 horror film also directed by Bong Joon-ho. In fact, "The Host" felt very much like a prequel to "Parasite" in many ways (or, I guess, "Parasite" was the sequel—I just didn't see them in that order). Also, if you haven't even seen "Parasite" yet, what the heck? Come on. What else? Nothing. Good day.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

Read more...