Delighted to find NEKO Case name-checked here. Amazingl6 talented singer songwriter, whether solo, with The New Pornographers or with Case/Lang/Viers. Deep Red Bells is worth a few minutes’ listening:
https://g.co/kgs/AFrDKv
Someone posted a screenshot on Neko’s Twitter feed this morning; she seemed honored.
1
The answer in the Sunday Acrostic has one more letter in the author's than does the grid.
I couldn't think of the word "shuriken," but I knew there was a word, so I actually googled, "what's the word for the discs ninjas throw?" Aha, yes, SHURIKEN, I thought. It didn't fit, of course. It just never occurred to me that they were actually called NINJA STARS, and it wasn't until I had NIN from the crosses that I twigged to it.
You are absolutely correct, there were enough crosses to figure out otherwise hairy clues like "subtweet" and "AP credit". I certainly didn't know about Mr. Earl Tupper; "tupper" could have been the name of the ware material for all I knew. I liked the "firsts". Isn't "popo" a first as well?
Lots of things I didn't know today, but got through it finally.
My first entry was SMILE at 14D, and its I gave me DERNIER CRI. I thought, Yay! A big longie right off the bat will allow me to tie up NE lickety-split and then I can just roar through the rest of the puzzle.
Alas, 'twas not to be. I couldn't get anything else in NE until I had done the rest and returned to that segment.
I kept wishing for a consult with Jimbo. Didn't know a lot of the music entries, and they were someone I'd heard of, the clue didn't help. Didn't know RADIO GAGA or NEKO Case. ELO and BAEZ had really obscure clues. Did get CHET Baker relatively quickly, because I've actually seen him in person.
I've never played in-person ESCAPE ROOM, but have enjoyed the computer versions. Thanks Deb, for sharing some links.
I think of JEANS, not JEAN, SHORTS. Think I've heard of a BARREL RACE, but can't imagine what it is. Anjd I never worry about the difference between OTT and ORR, but just wait for crossing letters. REESE is easier.
I'm not sure I understand exactly what a SUBTWEET is. An anonymous retweet? But I'm happy to remain ignorant. I've never been to Twitter and see no reason to change that.
Have fun on the ship, Deb, playing and eating and socializing. Is all the food bufffet-style, or do they serve sit-down dinners? And enjoy whatever holildays you observe while you're gone. We'll miss you, but will welcome Caitlin.
2
Also - I forgot to add - John CENA is my favourite!! So that made this puzzle extra-nice for me :)
2
This was a quick Friday for me - lots of fun, and it just clicked. A perfect balance of challenge and satisfaction.
Thanks, Mr. Pasco! And have fun on your trip, Deb!! :)
3
Quite confused here. Bobby ORR was number 4 for the Bruins and I am sure that his number must be retired. Don't know who OTT is but I probably OUGHT to. 37 across clue therefore fits 11 down. Can anyone set me straight? Thanks.
Andrew, there are lots of fun comments about baseball's Mel OTT in the comments. Please scroll on down (or up).
Thanks Barry. Interesting they were both number 4. I think that it would have made for more clever clueing however to use the identical clue for both 37a and 11d.
2
Still a bit confused about SPFS answer, what's a quick explanation?
Sunscreen ratings
As in
Sun Protection Factor
1
Holy cats, Barry...gotta be the first time I've ever heard was SPF stands for! Thx!
1
Who on God's green earth actually says "POPO?"
3
Roun''bout 1300 miles ESE of Sante Fe, in the "hot" of the Sowf. Especially in rural areas. Started in So Cal, but spread in the African American community. I've heard it hear in NC and SC.
2
I don't think anyone much anymore, Dag, but it was quite common about (I think) 10-15 years ago.
2
Your reply wasn't showing, RMP, when I posted mine. I don't know about the origin, but my only exposure to the term has been decidedly urban, probably mostly African-American.
Random things:
1. How to make your own origami NINJA STARS http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-an-Origami-Ninja-Star/
2. NINJA STARS, as Deb pointed out, are rightly called Shurikens - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuriken, and are only primarily known in the west as NINJA STARS.
3. NINJA STARS of a different variety, in a certain popular subculture, would be Naruto - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto. Obviously a caricature of sorts, but helped popularize it to the younger generations.
4. The Ninja blenders / food processors - obviously someone looked at those blender blades - you know, the ones where two are angled up and two are angled down, and when looking down on it, resembles a 4-pointed shuriken.
5. Japanese puzzle boxes - might not be new to many here but what the heck - http://www.hakonemaruyama.co.jp/japanese-puzzle-box-e.htm
2
I could not break into the NE and eventually gave up. Part of the problem was ROCKIE. The Rockies play at Coors Field and the Broncos as Mile High Stadium, but of course the whole clue was not in caps, so it was a devious misdirection, especially for Coloradans.
ORR and OTT could have been cross-clued. 11D:"The favorite crossword athlete that isn't 37A," and 37A: "The favorite crossword athlete that isn't 11D."
8
The Broncos play at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Rockies play at Coors Field, at a mile high.
Or both 37A and 11D could have been clued as "Sportsman whose #4 was retired".
1
Yeah that corner broke me as well... don't think I would have crossed into Dernier Cri in a million years, but I feel especially dumb for blanking on Jedi. Don't understand the Spire answer either...had Space in there for awhile, but knew it was wrong.
So, finished this puzzle jes' fine, despite (1) thinking ESCAPE ROOM was a Jodie Foster picture (that's "Panic Room") and (2) having somewhere picked up the notion that DERNIER CRI had something to do with...socks??? Anybody have a theory about that?
Denier is the fineness of the mesh (I think)....more for hosiery than regular socks... but I had them confused, too.
Latest Outcry: Dernier Cri. It's the latest "thing" or fad. Not sure where the socks idea came from.
1
The last 'word'/ cry
cf "cri de coeur", a cry from the heart, ie, a passionate appeal
MOL has it right, denier is the thickness of the fiber, where a high number is thick and a low number fine, and climate change deniers think that's also fine.
3
Some of this was in my wheelhouse and fell quickly. Some was not but came in via ESP or fairy dust - who knows? But much was difficult for me and required peeks (a little at a time) from Deb and lastly from the rest of you. That final I in STRATI was the letter that did the trick.
How can a Brooklyn gal know about BARREL RACEs on ranches? DERNIER CRI? I MEAN TO SAY I KNEW IT - it was a phrase I learned decades ago and was my first fill. Sure didn't know RADIOGAGA or NANANA. I'm learning someting new every day.
1
Here ya go Brooklyn Girl...
http://youtu.be/CTLSvNcssXQ
Mind you, rodeoery (my word) is no bastion of gender equality. Just as well for the cowboys as they may have trouble competing in this cowgirls-only event.
Meg H of course you know nanana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoyvvEWHodk
2
oh phoo
Started NW with SHOO over HEAT, which made other_INCOME possible, and brought me to a standstill in that corner. Then tried [and failed] with both BRONCO and NUGGET in the NE. Since when is the singular of ROCKIES not ROCKy? Had to abandon the upper echelon and work back up from more friendly lower levels...
... where I found 'Doctors' order' the clue for AMA, to which I say "Nun such", while admitting it's great wordplay.
40D seems like AL_GREEN lost an E, and I would've guessed ALdREN but for Director ANG Lee, so nice to see again after the recent meeting of ANG and Strom.
Liked 34D mainly for making me think of SUBTerfuge; I've heard that's a portmanteau for a subterranean centrifuge, but what do I know?
PUZZLE BOXed up a little SUBText: Oh, say can you see, America? I MEANT O SAY, can you see you OTT to get off the QUAALUDES ORR QUE PASA will be no more ESCAPE ROOM from what now passes for PAR: ROT in the CORPs of GOVT. Wouldn't the military-industrial complex like to give IKE A nother try? Time for some Bon Ami, MON AMI, before it's TOO LATE. It's DERNIER CRI at the bar, so hurry up please, it's Time.
This PUZZLE had all THE ELEMENTS of Style. Can't remember when I've been as entertained by one so young. [Just forget about that cougar prey/LAD business, will you?] Now where did I put my CAR KEYS?
6
Those Dudley Do-Rights in the RCMP are Mounties, eh? Now would you really call one of them a Mounty rather than a Mountie?
I'll save you, Nell!
Curses, foiled again!
2
Not a tall, Grasshopper, but then 'Mountie' is a specially-created name, whereas we already have the {most likely eponymous) Rocky (not Rockie) Mountains.
I await further opinions from our growing ## of Canadian co-respondents.
Only in light-hearted pursuit of truthiness, I ask, would you refer to any individual mountain in the Rocky Mountains as a "Rocky"? Rocky seems to me to apply to the chain qua chain.
Is he a Phillie? or a Philly? I thought Phillies were the females anyway.
3
I had boots on Frankie before the crosses asked for those two thingies sticking out of his neck...There was a poppin' fresh baker's dozen first time answers today and I sussed each and every one of them. Working off of that impetus one might deduce that fact alone would suffice and result in my completing this themeless. One would be wrong with that deduction. A handful of dunno's made sure of that. "I Wish I Knew" DERNIER CRI and POPO. I do know that ballad from CHET's 50's compilation album, Grey December. Take as directed warns the AMA, as this ballad is a powerful sedative. Sedation and/or seduction, to a great extent, are part and parcel to Baker's art. Play this one twice and call me in the morning. And please, no okay, you're "in the morning" RIBs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwgInnuper4
STAY Classy WPer's,
Bru
2
My last letter was the second g in GAGA. I had been looking at ACREA_E for soo long, trying to come up with some word for "many things" using those letters. Then started going through the alphabet to fill 26A, got to G and did a face plant. I'm a retired surveyor and I think that part of my brain is worn out.
2
Great story there, Pete. I’m in construction planning and I didn’t see acreage either. Had average until nearly the very end. Must have gotten sand in our verniers.
1
Typo in Deb's third paragraph: I MEAN (not MEANT) TO SAY.
But we knew what you MEANT. :-)
2
I had three little clusters of knowns or good guesses after my first pass: SMILE, ROCKIE and CHET in the NE. COLE, ANG and ALGREN in the SW and TEEN and STAY in the SE. And that was enough. Took me a while, but just worked my way out from each of those areas as other answers dawned on me from the crosses.
I've noted before that having proximate or crossing answers is a big, big help as it's so useful in considering other possibilities. Can't think of a puzzle where that was more evident than it was today.
Nice puzzle and an enjoyable solve.
2
Challenging and slow, with lots of stopping thinking, totally absorbing all the way. Laughed out loud at the clue for ACREAGE at 7A.
Best wishes to Deb and all the cruiser/crossers. Would love to do that sometime, just to know and feel how big that ocean really is.
2
I had no idea what to put in at the POPO/APCREDIT intersection. Other than that, this puzzle was more than satisfying, despite having to resort to Google for confirmation at several places. One thing about the 24A and 24D: I KNEWIT couldn't be WAVE/WAVE.
1
"I will try not to write with a British accent when I come back." Very funny, Deb. Bon Voyage!
There is so much to love in this puzzle! Plus it's the smoothest, most unforced pangram I can remember. The only reason I noticed is because I always wonder when I see a "Q."
I almost threw in the towel in the NE but kept at it. Changing tralas to NANANA really helped.
Thank you, Paolo Pasco for a fabulous Friday!
1
Hand up for wanting tralas before crossing to NANANA. I was going nowhere up top, and -- like Amitai -- I only got started in the SW. Nice workout.
(If I didn't notice all the M's, I wasn't going to notice the pangram.)
1
ORR clue is a bit off. Alexander ORR was president of the Rapid Transit Board (created by an 1900 act of the state legislature to recommend routes), but the funding impasse was solved by, and the construction company that built it and the IRT Company that ran it were headed by, August Belmont.
(Arno Press, a NYT imprint, reprinted in 1969 the IRT's 1904 grand opening book.)
2
(I posted a note about the ORR clue hours ago. It has failed to appear because the comments system is working...NOT.)
1
David,
Your note appears in yesterday's column.
Yesterday's comments, of course, not column, but in any case I was pleased to see that you agreed that ORR as clued was somewhere between obscure and incorrect.
Did not know 18A and still did not know it when Happy Pencil signed off on my puzzle.
Quinn The Mighty Eskimo - a slang term for a QUAALUDE back in the day. The song is actually based on Anthony Quinn and was written by Bob Dylan. So THEY say.
Felt like a ping pong ball solving this one as I bounced from one clue to the next. I see the TV influence in the fill and that put me at a disadvantage. I had all the reported fill for 12d as I did not think it could be ROCKIE in the singular... but I was wrong.
Thanks Paolo
I did this on PuzzAzz, which was just as well. The Clear Errors feature kept me trying various RADIO A A possibles .....Had never heard of ESCAPE ROOMS (wanted AVERAGE for the figure) so I was on the ropes for a while.
And then there was TO RENT.........thud. Disgraceful mashup.
Plus it is very cold.
Nice to see all your Replies, MOL, even if they're all bunched together instead of in the threads where they apparently belong.
Is this some sort of meta joke that the NYT's IT people are playing on poor helpless readers?
1
A great themeless Friday. Scariest thing for me is that I learned about EARL Tupper reading my local paper minutes before I did the puzzle. Apparently, the Bryant University mascot Ironclad Tupper sadly died the other day. He was named for EARL who donated much of the university land. I never even thought about the person behind Tupperware and now twice in the same 30 minutes!
5
DERNIER CRI? ...I thought we *won* the war against France.
Kidding. Quite a puzzle today with a seeming smorgasbord of nifty words. Liked POPO, NINJASTARS, THEELEMENTS, and go ROCKIEs! Only quibble was with "TO RENT." "To let" or "for rent," but you'll not find a "to rent" sign anywhere.
4
You may not like it, but there are many such signs. If you spend too much time worrying about grammar, spelling, syntax, whatever on hand-letter advertising signs, you will soon need a QUAALUDE.
1
Make that "hand-lettered."
I have to take issue with 3 Down. AP classes are college level but they aren't accelerated.
1
They’re accelerated in the sense that the students are ahead of their grade. They’re taking college courses in high school. In education parlance, taking a course before you would normally fits the definition of accelerated.
4
There may be variations on that: the Grandboy took Advanced Placement courses in high school. That became a problem with college-level calculus. :(
Leapfinger, you've got to know your limits in math!
1
Enjoy your cruise, Deb. Bronco before ROCKIE, which I resisted. The team is plural and to me the singular should be ROCKY. Liked DERNIERCRI and wanted MONCHER before AMI, obviously it didn't fit. Spelled QUAALUDE with the crosses, but it just didn't look right. Last space to fill was the P of POPO/SPF. I wanted COPO and was thinking some math term for 1D. Also wanted WOE or ILL before ADO.
2
I tried NUGGET, considered BRONCO.....The CK was last into the grid!
This writer agrees with you in the great ROCKY/ROCKIE debate that's roiling the nation!
http://www.denverpost.com/2007/10/26/is-it-a-rockie-or-a-rocky/
I also had a problem with 12D. I don't know the names of teams, and did think there might be one called the ROCKIEs, but I would have taken the singular would be ROCKy. But I was in the ballpark. So to speak.
Easy Friday for me, or maybe I just clicked with the vibe. GROSS before TOTALINCOME, which I held onto too long, despite a feeling that SCAT had to be right. Took a while to suss out the correct spelling of QUAALUDE. Didn’t know KEL, NEKO, CENA, ORR or DERNIERCRI. I must have heard about EARL Tupper somewhere, because I felt like that was it. Never heard of ESCAPEROOM but figured that had to be right. Loved POPO and happy to see BAEZ. How about a puzzle that crosses BAEZ and DYLAN?
3
Holy moly, so much to like in this puzzle!
1. Lovely long answers: I MEAN TO SAY, NINJA STARS, QUAALUDE, THE ELEMENTS, DERNIER CRI.
2. Cross of QUAALUDE and BUZZ.
3. Very current CATALAN.
4. Our dear sports crosswordese friends OTT and ORR (okay, this was a different ORR).
5. The put-in-a-good-mood "QUE PASA, MON AMI?"
6. The cross of RIB and I'M IN LOVE, where I immediately thought of Adam.
7. We almost had SCAT over POOP.
8. Best of all -- POPOGAGANANANA.
6
I have some advice for Deb Amlen and anyone else from the NY Times aboard the QM2 - don't refer to your journey as a CRUISE. It is a CROSSING. I learned this over cocktails from a frosty Brit on the first day of my first crossing. Also, don't turn the QM2 into the QMII. Such ordinals are reserved for actual royals, but you probably already know this.
7
Thanks, BFB. I was wondering what had turned a transatlantic vogyage into a cruise.
I've never been on an actual cruise, but have crossed the Atlantic four times by ship in the 1960s: thrice on the then Maasdam and once on the United States. I highly recommend ships as travel options.
1
I knew DERNIER CRI right off; not sure where and when I picked that up. I was also pretty sure about the spelling of QUAALUDE, and again, I am not sure why. In the future 11D can be clued either Alexander ORR Bobby, and it was nice seeing 37A clued in an OTTer manner.
That was the one answer that really threw me off. Now I know it. Wish it had Fr in the clue.
1
Bon voyage Deb.
This was not too hard for a Friday and quite an enjoyable workout.
I found a toehold in the SW with MON AMI, ALGREN, I MEAN TO SAY ad NINJA STARS and worked up and out from there. The rather large number of pop culture entries could be squeezed out of the crosses, with occasional confirmation from Google, who kindly corrected the spelling of some of the guessed names.
Nevertheless, I was foiled in the NW corner, where I had to “reveal” POPO. Never having heard of that term for police, I racked my brains unsuccessfully for a mathematical term for numbers with a common factor and had no idea of the abbreviated prefix for credit for an advanced course.
My favorite clues/entries: I'M IN LOVE and AMA. I liked seeing DERNIER CRI and QUE PASA , and learned ESCAPE ROOMS. RADIOGAGA and SUBTWEET.
2
CrossNerd is pleased with this puzzle. Solved in a shade over 30 minutes with no checks or cheats. Good entertainment while I’m sitting around at 3 in the morning when I should be sleeping.
I obsessively collect Japanese PUZZLE BOXES. In fact, two more arrived in the mail yesterday. Wondering if I should wrap them up for Christmas or just open them now...
I also have a strong tie to the ESCAPE ROOM industry. If you’re played many games around the USA, you’ve probably played one of my designs.
I am truly NERDy, like a Peruvian hypnotherapist. Thanks for the fun puzzle.
3
1970's Bay Area band The Tubes' lead singer was rocker Fee Waybill who went by the stage name Quay Lewd. Incredible video....
https://youtu.be/pIy71ql8PYU
4
Radiohead got their name from The Talking Heads song Radiohead from True Stories.
3
and Elke
There used to be an oleo ad which said 'it's not nice to fool mother nature'. My take is 'i got fooled by retired no.4 '. Both OTT and ORR had their no.4 jerseys retired. That's sneaky , Pa Pa .
So besides having a real messy 37A (ORR having to yield to OTT), I confidently had entered 'calf roping' before BARREL RACE. Both are fun to watch at the Calgary Stampede.
Not only do we have a SPIRE in our horizon, QUAALUDE was in my ken (was waiting for it to appear in a PUZZLE not TOO LATE).
Yesterday Crossnerd was commenting on two words referring to rear ends, today we have another version POPO :
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Popo
I hope he BITES AT it.
JEANS with holes in the knees seem to be the DERNIER CRI lately. You don't have to be down at HEEL for that.
Great to see Joan BAEZ again.
SMILE.
4
DERNIER CRI is new to me. I couldn't even parse it when the puzzle finished so I had to Google it. The ER in that word were my final letters. I didn't think ORR could be not clued as the hockey player and I didn't know what "cad" means (it's not a fish, that's "cod", and it took far too long to get me off of the fish theme). Maybe the first time a solved puzzle left an answer so un-parseable. I'm not complaining though, I like to learn!
The top half got me for a long time. I had BRONCO instead of ROCKIE for a long time, and had to notice that "Mile-high" was not capitalized to remove Bronco. STRATI, RADIO GAGA, TO RENT, and, weirdly enough, JEDI took longer than I would have liked to get. The song was new to me, but I see clouds sometimes, rent an apartment, and love Star Wars so there's not much excuse there!
I love the ESCAPE ROOM answer. They're great fun in person and I recommend anyone try them if they're available near where you live. And if they're not, visit NYC and try one of the ones there.
2
I do not think, if asked to spell QUAALUDE on a blank piece of paper, I would have ever come up with that spelling. Crosses did it for me. It still looks wrong. Or a trademark for a sedative in an Admirals' Club in the American AAdvantage program.
2
Who is the OTT person with the retired number? We thought for sure it was a Bobby ORR clue
It's Friday and we have gloated too loud how OTT used to be so common. The elves "got" us on the OTT v ORR.
2
That four I thought ought to be ORR
But wait, might be OTT, could it not?
Wasn’t OTT before ORR, was he a four?
Is it ORR or OTT; OTT or ORR?
Such a conundrum
Never had it before!
10
Rachelle N—Mel Ott was a superstar outfielder and home-run hitter for 20 years for the then-New York Giants in the 1930s and '40s. He was later elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Good puzzle and a pangram at that.
I personally haven't heard of DERNIER CRI before, but it looks familiar for some reason. Also never heard of POPO (except as a Chinese grandmother)
I didn't understand the clue and answer for 9D. A lot of the rest was just guesswork.
Poor long-suffering Deb - having to go on a cruise for work, solve puzzles, and buffets, oh my! Have a good time, Deb!
3
Caution: mansplaining ahead: when you look at a horizon, on land, you might see the tops of trees, or a radio tower, and maybe the spire of a church. . . so what may be on the horizon could happen soon, or it may literally be what is on the horizon. . .
2
Thanks, RMP - Yeah, SPIRE of churches and such was the only thing I could think of, but that seemed very tenuous to me because horizons can certainly other things and SPIREs aren't necessarily the most notable features (except maybe in the boonies).
I was hoping there was some other explanation I just didn't understand.
1
Regarding POPO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfzJ3LJZAgE
I solved this one too quickly and imagine that Mr.Paolo’s and my trains of thoughts must run on parallel tracks.Can’t get enough of that congratulatory jingle instead of the dreaded need to find that one hidden letter!
2
About right for a Friday. I was almost exactly on my average solve time.
I'd hoped to be with Deb on the cruise. But a cancer relapse and stomach surgery put paid to that idea. Thanks for the puzzle.
13
I’m so sorry, Mac. We’ll meet one day. Hang in there and stay well.
10
I'm so sorry to hear you've been ill. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
3
Very sorry to hear the news, Mac. Please take good care of yourself. I wouldn't go on a cruise if you paid me. I like the surface under my feet to not move, and I'm leery of being confined to a bacteria farm.
5
Is the northwest SCAT, POPO, TACT and STRATI?
Almost. So' close.
1
No. One of them is wrong.
1
Bless you all!! I finished in under 25 minutes because of you all!
3
lots of things I didn't know like ESCAPE ROOMS and NINJA STARS but got from crossings. Sussed onto RAJ at the end for Mr Happy Pencil. Tougher than most but rewarding. long entries like TOTAL INCOME helped. I've never been on a cruise either. Enjoy it Deb!
2