Barry's comment is surely my second favorite I have seen here this year:
"My comment praising Elaine's comment must seem a bit out of context ever since her comment disappeared"
Sometimes the most logical is the most humorous.
Ugh! Seriously? SOTS crossing SERIPHIC on a Tuesday? I found the theme fun but the fill, not so much. But that’s just me.
1
Today's puzzle was fun and easy. I'm late because we're way Downeast and spent the day in lovely Saint Andrew's by the Sea in New Brunswick.
19A, STRAIT, was especially timely today. My sister and brother-in-law have had a long slog up the east coast of Australia and are poised at the tip of the York peninsula in Queensland, ready to maneuver through the Torres Strait on their way to Indonesia. Take a look at their position here: https://share.garmin.com/escapevelocity
and read about the journey here:
http://escapevelocity.mobi/2018/07/10/you-know-it-dont-come-easy/
The moral of today's puzzle, and something we should all keep in mind as we patiently await the perfect commenting system:
You can't make a THREE EGG OMELET without breaking a few eggs.
2
@Barry
---
Barry Ancona
New York NY20m ago
I had suggested a few days ago that we not use "reply" and only post "new" comments, but I guess *everyone* was too tired to try it!
---
Okay, it wasn't that hard!
I think that I was reeling from the criticisms recently and didn't grok that suggestion of yours! (My excuse, sticking to it.)
And thanks for the "no mansplaining" reply earlier; if anyone needs that original thread just ask me for a repost!
TTYL
Tue Jul 10 2018 7:47 pm EDT
XWelaine, just wanted to let you know that I read your comments.
I still think that if we always replied to the last reply (after the first reply to the main comment) that we wouldn't be losing so many. Problem is, we can't count on everyone to do that.
By the way, a few years ago the comments did not allow for replies so the system was just as you suggest. However, they also put actual time stamps on the comments (and for a while at least, numbered them), which made it a lot easier to pinpoint who and which comment you might be replying to.
Lets see how the next few days go.
12:18 am Wed
For those who didn't know (and care to) or had forgotten (and wish to be reminded):
https://www.cardplayer.com/rules-of-poker/hand-rankings
Hi Elaine,
For a good laugh, take a look at the current state of the thread about the official language of India.
Yes, I think that Micky hit that nail on the head! And, indeed, the vanishing continues!
What do you think of my using comments only, BTW, Barry?
Too tired right now to go that route!
Tue Jul 10 2018 7:13 pm EDT
I had suggested a few days ago that we not use "reply" and only post "new" comments, but I guess *everyone* was too tired to try it!
. . . 30 known missing (con't)
As I have suspected in the past, the first commented posted might be the one most susceptible to having its replies deleted. Or maybe that’s just where the cuts start!
Signing off for now.
Oh, the “numbers” as of 4:44 pm today: 121 according to column. There were actually 35 comments and 73 replies, totaling 108. 13 (thirteen) disappearances?
My suggested workaround is: don’t reply. We might be able to create a simple list of comments, with comments in response to others comments beginning with “@Rich in Atlanta,” for example. Adding timestamps whenever we think of it would make this even more useful, I think.
-xwE
Tue Jul 10 2018 6:28 pm EDT
(over and out)
Some details: (con't)
Some details:
Mon Jul 9 10:06 EDT, last night:
The comments total at the top of the column read 130. The actual count of comments, including replies, was 124. In my experience, this probably indicates that 6 (six) replies had already disappeared. (For instance, by 3:30 Monday afternoon the comments total at the top of the column read 100. The actual count of comments, including replies, was 99. A disappeared comment, by Wags, about Truro, was soon after identified as missing.)
Tue Jul 10 1:00pm EDT, this afternoon:
The first comment from yesterday’s WP showed 5 (five) replies; it showed 24 replies at ten last night. The comments total at the top of the column read 138. The actual count of comments, including replies, was 107; difference of 31. Rough calculation: At least 24 had disappeared from first comment, the five that showed at 1:00 are all new. 24 missing. 6 missing from last night; 30 known missing.
(to be continued . . .)
Fun puzzle and theme! We had SOTS and OAFS today... shady characters indeed... Did anyone else start with IGNORANT for 9D? My own twisted sense of humor perhaps...
1
This is not a "reply," but a "comment." It's a response to the technical discussion started today by "Rich in Atlanta."
@Rich in Atlanta and other interested parties:
Preface to this reply to Rich in Atlanta’s comment and replies: many of us, a good handful, as demonstrated recently in Wordplay, feel inclined to share this type of information about the functioning of the Wordplay comments. Some of you are not thrilled about the number of Wordplay inches that have been devoted to this. I personally believe that some of this crowd-sourced info might be helpful for us to find workarounds while Wordplay is being repaired. I also believe that it could be beneficial to the repairers.
Please, NYT tech team, if we are not to share it here in Wordplay, provide us another means of sharing this information with each other. (Many of us share much of it with you, but don’t know what has been shared by others.) But sharing it “publically” here allows us to compare notes among ourselves.
Summary of recent observations:
1. Comment under discussion is the first comment that posted for Monday July 9’s crossword.
2. Major changes took place “after closing,” between 10:06pm and sometime before “Rich in Atlanta” posted, and more changes took place in real time as he posted his tests this morning.
Some details:
Mon Jul 9 10:06 EDT, last night:
(to be continued . . .)
1
Elaine,
I believe I’ve posted this many times, but just in case you didn’t catch it, no one from tech reads these comments. The appropriate place to voice your concerns and observations about the commenting system is by going through Crossword Feedback on the puzzle page or in your app, OR write to [email protected].
No amount of posting here is going to do anything.
5
Very nice! The final clue made me laugh.
Had no idea about the theme until I got the revealer. Still, I obsessed about the actual letters circled. "Seloeg?" Or, top-to-bottom, left-to-right, "Sleeog?" I know, makes no sense. Had to come to Deb's column and the comments to realize the specific letters meant nothing. Liked the ideas of some to make the circled letters real full-houses by introducing numerals, for instance. Tough, I believe, and then, definitely a late-week puzzle!
Quick solve, but not without a few pauses for NCAA, SERAPHIC, and biNS before URNS. As usual, crosses came to the rescue.
Impressed that Mr Eaton-Salners could arrange the circled letters in line vertically! Kudos!
Another puzzle where the "theme" has nothing to do with the solving process. Cute, but wasted, IMHO. But I loved the clue to 59D.
This was a Tuesday puzzle, so I wasn't relying on the theme to help me solve. I noticed that the three sets of circles had three of one letter and two of another, so I did have an AHA when I reached the revealer. Had I had any questions about the three theme entries, the revealer would have helped me with them. What more do you expect from a Tuesday?
1
Loved the crossword.
Frustrated again by the Spelling Bee, this time for omitting the potent cachaca (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacha%C3%A7a for details)
Missing one word for Queen Bee status - I'm at 22 words and 95 points, so if I am doing the math correctly, I'm short one 8 point word.
May just have to have down my sorrows in a caipirinha tonight.
Finally found the elusive and obscure 6 letter word. The 70% rule failed!
Do the math again. The magic number was 101.
I’m new to the bee... how do you calculate the magic number to be a Queen Bee?
I don't know where or whether this will show up, since all my comments and replies today, including my C-i-C, got all bunched up in the OMELET thread.
Sorry.
WELL (we'll) LOOKY THERE.
Comments appear to have been scrambled this morning.
(Trying again)
Definitely, Andrew, and I'm not sure why...
I found the puzzle over easy.
Thanks, Andrew and Barry. (It's 6:49 p.m. ET, and I'm trying again to post something.)
One of the things that has apparently resulted from whatever today's new scrambling routine is that a lot of posters in a lot of threads (that may or may not be the thread for which it was intended) have to do with Odysseus and/or Homer. But whatever the genesis was, it was not visible to me, and left me very confused. Or am I missing something in the puzzle?
Wasn’t his show clued in the Sunday? Today he was let go by CNN. Fare thee well Wolfe!
Disregard the above comment with my apologies. ‘Tis a total misconception on my part derived from a slickly worded ad that I read on MLB.com’s site. Continue to fare thee well Wolfie!
WELL LOOKY THERE threw me for bit because I've heard of "well looky *here*." I don't like it when theme material is compromised by adding plurals, suffixes, etc just for symmetry.
1
Otherwise, this is a timely puzzle as the World Series of Poker is taking place right now. Day 6 gets underway in a few hours. The field is currently just over 100, down from almost 8000
I am very accustomed to "looky there," so maybe it's just a matter of life experience.
2
Very nice. The final clue made me laugh.
Smooth and clean solve, wondering all the way through what in the world the theme might be. And even if the connection to the old tv show is weak, I still had to smile. My daughters loved that show back in the day, perhaps because they wished their dad might someday somehow be half as cool as Bob Saget.
1
And the puzzle. Quick enjoyable solve; not a ton of gimmes, but things worked out from the crosses quite smoothly. Liked the theme and that I was baffled as to what was going on until I worked out the reveal. SODS as a plural kind of rubs me the wrong way - I won't go so far as to say it's incorrect, but I threw a lot of SOD back in the day (amateurs lay it - pros throw it) and can't imagine using it in the plural.
Yo no hablo ESPANOL. Always seemed like a self-contradictory statement to me, but it's one that I got to use a few times at one point in my life when I was very tan. At other times I managed to bluff my way through as my only contribution was to say 'de nada' as someone handed me back my lighter.
Also, yo no soy marinero:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp6j5HJ-Cok
..
3
When Martin gets here, he'll mention several different types of SODS.
(When I looked again at the SW, NE and SE corner across entries, I started thinking "SODS, SOTS, TATS and wives, how many were going to St. Ives?")
3
What about SODS as a verb, though? (I must have put than in via crosses, as I don't recall it, but then that was about 7 or 8 hrs ago...
Quick solve today, but later than usual. We're way Downeast and just returned from a day trip to Saint Andrews by the Sea, a lovely little town in New Brunswick.
The Full House theme brought to mind my daughter's kindergarten Mother's Day project 25 years ago in which she wrote that (Mom's) favorite TV show was Full House. Of course, it was HER favorite, not mine, and one of the few she was allowed to watch.
The appearance of 19A, STRAIT, is quite timely. My sister and brother-in-law have had a long slog up the east coast of Australia in Far North Queensland and are about to maneuver through the Torres Strait on their way to Indonesia. It's been quite a journey aboard their catamaran, Escape Velocity.
http://escapevelocity.mobi/2018/07/10/you-know-it-dont-come-easy/
As mentioned in yesterday's post, I found myself nine points short of Queen Bee status on the Spelling Bee. I never got there, and the two words I needed were a one-pointer, DUAD, which I didn't realize was actually a word, and LANDLADY, which was odd, because I had LAND and I had LADY, and they were next to one another on the list! But if I had gotten it, I would have been really annoyed to have missed QB by one point!
Now, today I got to Genius level in about ten minutes. I'm not ready to work towards QB yet, but today's list is weird. Although I'm not going to give out spoilers directly, if you don't want to read about today's Bee, you should LOOK AWAY NOW!!
...
....
.....
......
Are you still there? SPOILER ALERT!
....
.....
......
OK, if you're here, you want to be.
Anyway, on the list I have today, so far I have 17 words, of which there are two Spanish words, one Russian word, one Japanese word, four mostly onomatopoetic exclamations, one slangy word that seems to me to be ungrammatical any way you use it, and two reduplicative words from West Africa and the Native Tribes of the Pacific Northwest. All are, I assume, legitimate words in English, but a strange bunch nevertheless.
Enjoy finding them if you're still looking!
1
And yet, despite all of those you mentioned, I was disappointed to see DHOW not being accepted.
1
If Homer says “D’oh,” does Apu say “DHOW”?
I'm totally in Wen's boat (so to speak). Many unusual words accepted but not DHOW.
I'm at 22 words and either missing one long word or (6 or 7 points remaining depending on the math) or a lot of short words.
Today's is the most frustrating so far -- so few words but I just can't get there. (I think it must be the Japanese one, Steve.)
Less than 3 hours to the WC, so maybe there's still time...
OMG, there's a giant snake in the Spelling Bee! I think it ate all of the other land animals.
2
And here he is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs
I barely noticed.
Close to 785 million views. OMG!
Best clue: "throws on the floor" for AREA RUGS. Best words: EXCORIATED and SERAPHIC. Liked the FULL HOUSE theme answers too. So, thumbs up!
2
Most of the fun I would have had with this puzzle was dashed when the roomie finished it a good fifteen minutes before me. This wouldn't have been so bad if I had not just said something to the effect of how good it felt to be "smart" after picking off EXCORIATED with only three letter's help.
OOF. Early morning ego blow.
PHSCALE at 36A tripped me up for some time because, as I learned it, the scale went from -7 to 7, not 0 - 14. Also, the fun little AXIOM/IDIOM/ADAGE plug-and-play that I'm getting used to for clues like 22A.
Finished a minute or so past my average, but it felt a bit more of a slog than normal Tuesdays.
2
I got off to a bumpy start right out of the gate with draft POOL but NOGS set me straight. RELIT seems a bit of a stretch for reread or am I missing something?
You're missing the pre-digital meaning of kindle.
(cue Light My Fire)
3
Please do not use Kindle as a verb for reading an ebook.
Please do not use Kindle as a verb for reading an ebook.
Please do not use Kindle as a verb for reading an ebook.
12
Audi, somehow I got the feeling your "?" should have been a " ;-) ". Anyway, it cracked me up. So often getting a clue means considering all the possible uses of the words.
On 26a; a Doc Pomus, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller cover from Leon, "Youngblood."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kBpppw1v_I
As for today's theme; Warren Haynes rhythmically goes a-slippin' and a-slidin' on this bluesy number. He co-authored "Two Of A Kind Working On A FULL HOUSE" along with Dennis Robbins and Bobby Boyd.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3nRtuSU9UU
Having dispensed with today's twofer, here are a few terse and STRAIT-faced observations about the puzzle. The NE was my sole brain strain. A ton of the savvy solvers 'round here could find that speed bump in the NE to be OPEN for DEBATE...I am channeling these Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame members, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYR327oEdY8 The Beach Boys, in order that I might give today's superb offering from Alex Eaton- Sanders et al a rating of three EFFS; for Fun! Fun! Fun!.
In A SERAPHIC Mood,
Bru
2
Oops! That was no everyday run-of-the-mill typo. Not unlike Quincy Magoo, I have once again fallen prey to my troublesome nearsightedness. All apologies Mr. Eaton-Salners.
That's horrible to hear Mick. Not knowing the circumstances, it still sounds like a world of hurt going around for you guys back then...You cannot put me to work though as I'm happily retired. Nowadays work is just a four-letter word. Feel better.
Hi, Kids! Way back, when Deb was very young, the U.S. did not have an all volunteer Army, and young men were "drafted" for military service. That accounts for her misdirection on 1A. We can now nitpick that players are drafted for pro sports from colleges and universities, and while most of their schools are NCAA members, the players themselves are not.
2
First things first. A little while ago I made 24 replies disappear from the first comment in yesterday's blog. Barry had mentioned that he had been 'replying to replies' for that long test comment and I wondered if others were doing the same and if replies to the original comment might be the issue. Here's what I did and what happened.
I replied to the original comment. My reply got added, all of the other comments were still there, but my reply appeared 3rd in the order.
I replied to the original comment again. Now there were only 7 total replies including my two new ones, and my replies appeared second and third in order.
I replied a third time to the original comment. All of the other replies disappeared and only my 3 showed up.
I replied to my first reply and it showed up but was 4th in the order.
So for our purposes here, at the moment I would suggest that everyone start replying to the last reply that appears. That may be the best chance we have to not have replies disappear.
A bit more in a (*cough*) reply.
3
My programmer brain is fascinated (while somewhat aghast) at exactly how this could work. I'm assuming (guessing) that each comment and reply is stored in a database and that (maybe) within that stored comment is a pointer (link) to the next reply, or maybe more than one pointer.
I've noted that for threads with disappearing replies, four often seems to be the magic number. A lot of threads seem to get stuck on four once things start to disappear.
What is most baffling to me is that before I started posting, there was an original reply to the base comment and that disappeared. All I can think of is that they have four pointers in the base comment and if they get more direct replies than that they overlay one of them? That's bizarre but I can't see another explanation.
On the other hand, they clearly are (sometimes) handling multiple embedded chains of pointers to be able to display 24 replies . And they must have a different pointer to replies to that reply (and properly handling that is quite doable).
There is a really simple way to eliminate this problem, which is to just add each new comment to a single threaded chain, ignoring whether it's a reply to a reply or to the original comment.
Still can't quite figure out how this could be functioning the way it is. Would love to hear any thoughts from Martin or any other programmers out there.
Or they could just send me their code and I'll fix it.
4
I noticed that when Deb posted on the long thread yesterday, hers was the first reply to appear out of sequence. I suspected she had "replied" to the original post, but her reply didn't knock off any replies, so either she replied to an early (not the last) reply...or she replied to the original post but unlike Rich's experience, it didn't knock out any replies. In any case, I know she didn't do it, but I also know that Rich could.
The more I think about this, I'm about 78.4 % convinced that the problem has to be occurring at the point that they are storing/saving a new reply, rather than when they are retrieving them for display.
I think they have to be overlaying something. I could be wrong and it's also possible that there are issues on both ends but the first option seems most likely from what I'm seeing.
1
"Ultimately, however, I decided that the theme would be better served if the five letters were always in a row with the same 3-2 ordering."
I think it would have been a disaster otherwise. Or should I say: "Good play. I'll give you a hand for that."
2
While I am glad that the five letters are in a row, it might not have been as disastrous as one might think the other way, assuming that the letters were circled in a group of three and a group of two. I think that the theme would have been just as understandable that way.
Not being a poker player, and not having learned the various poker hands to build my crossword solving vocabulary (that is about to change!), the theme eluded me. I kept trying to scramble the circled letters, figure how they related to "house", etc., until finally I looked up FULL HOUSE and received my "oh I see" aha. (I'm guessing I'm one in a million that doesn't know what a full house is.)
That didn't stop my enjoyment of the puzzle, with the beautiful EXCORIATED and SERAPHIC, plus the unknown FRIA to conquer, and a five-letter word that can be reversed to make another: RELIT. The bite was just right for Tuesday. Thumbs up!
3
Lewis, I knew that a FULL HOUSE was a poker hand, but I've never learned exactly what kind of poker hand it is--or a straight flush, or any other named hand. So while the puzzle was fun to do, the reveal felt kind of blah for me.
1
This is somewhat OT, but there is a company in these parts that specializes in clearing clogged septic systems. Their ad is poker-related and finishes with the line "'cause you can't have a royal flush when you're sitting on a full house".
I didn't find this easy for a Tuesday, but quite enjoyable. The theme answers fell pretty quickly because of the pattern, but some challenging clues and fills already mentioned, i.e. SERAPHIC, EXCORIATED and clues like Inculcate seemed pretty Wednesdayish to me. I didn't know the TV show, but had enough crosses to figure it out and thus a nice AHA in getting the poker theme. Well constructed, must have been tricky so congratulations to Alex.
6
I would always preface any "negative" comment with this: I cannot construct a crossword puzzle . I respect and salute those, as this constructor, who can. The link to poker here is too tenuous for my liking ."SSEEE", "LLLOO", and" EEEGG" may , indeed, be 3 of a kind and 2 of a kind . But these letters do not signify regular playing cards as "KKKQQ" does . Never go all in on an "SSEEE"!
10
Apart from the [near] impossibility of entries with 3-2 combinations of K, Q, J, this is supposed to be a crossword puzzle, not a guide to poker. You clearly understood the reference; I don't understand your beef. And no, I don't know whether LLLOO beats or loses to SSSEE, but if you're holding a STRAIT...
5
Barry I've been thinking about the near impossibility and I really have to wonder about the near. I know you'd have to go to great lengths, incorporating highly specialized abbreviations, it seems to me, but even then I'm doubtful. I fully expect you to prove me wrong. I can't even imagine how Odysseus would do it.
An interesting variation on this theme might have been to have 5-letter theme answers that were all-numeric "full houses". The crosses would then have been terms incorporating the number in question. No need for circles that way.
For a future puzzle perhaps...
Fun Tuesday!! And got a chuckle yesterday on the Bee when the word that got me to genius was "dullard."
6
Egad! That's the word I needed! Between this comment and today's crossword, I've had a most amusing morning!
1
But it wouldn't take DULLARDRY.
1
Steve, agreed. Becoming a genius wouldn't take dullardry.
re 26A: I started solving down the left side of the puzzle so I got the WELL LOOK part first, and guessed from the clue it was WELL LOOK AT THAT. A quick googling of the phrases (now that I corrected and finished) show that both "WELL LOOK AT THIS" and "WELL LOOK AT THAT" are much more common (at least 1M hits each) than the two "LOOKY" options mentioned by Deb (less than 100K each).
Art, I was quite pleased with "well look at that" and left in in too long.
2
In what world is ARTHUR (Rubinstein) spelled without an H? 56A.
P. S. I guess that’s the original spelling from the Polish, but in this case that should have been indicated in the clue.
1
According to Wikipedia, Rubinstein had recordings released under both spellings, Artur and Arthur. I thought the clue was valid.
I don't know. I've always known him as Artur, that's seventy some odd years, and never known it otherwise. But that could be due to the cover of the 78 rpm record my mom had of him from the fifties or earlier.
1
and Elke
I can't LIE- I know nothing about neither poker nor a TV show 'FULL HOUSE', but OTOH I saw a theme -THERE in the puzzle with 24D ''Voulez-vous coucher avec MOI ?'', then 31A providing SEX lessons , and 26D the clue saying to 'consider options in detail'. But it all remains ENTRE NOUS....
The two STRAITs near here- the STRAIT of Juan de Fuca and the STRAIT of Georgia- are not 'narrow passages for ships'. Both are traversed by big >300 car ferries. The BC Ferries serve a hearty (?)THREEEGGOMELET breakfast, but wouldn't know about HAMSALAD.
Groundskeeper-which is it -GRASSSEED or SODS ??
Re Bee- this drone (i.e. not Queen bee) wanted Laundryday, but no go.
Leave our story about ARTUR Rubinstein for another EVE.
Bon Nuit.
3
I'll always remember the first time I ever heard of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This is the final excerpt from the diary of my late father-in-law, who was on board the USS Maryland at Pearl Harbor:
Dec. 27, 1941 Still in the storm and the wind and rain are colder than hell. No reports of subs. The Pennsylvania left us and went to San Francisco.
Dec. 28, 1941 Coldest I've ever seen up here. We entered the Straits of Juan de Fuca about 0400 and went to G.Q. Subs were waiting at entrance and we shook the whole ocean with depth charges. Even shook us so bad we thought maybe a torpedo hit us. They wouldn't stand a chance. Arrived in Bremerton and anchored out. Started taking off ammunition and oil so we can get in the yard. No liberty granted.
Dec. 30, 1941 Got underway for the yard at 1300 and got a standby so I could go ashore today. They said only one-quarter of crew could go over. Went over the Craven Center and phoned up Mom. She was so happy and she couldn't talk so Dad took over. Sure was glad to hear their voices.
The excerpts were published in the Kitsap Sun newspaper in 2006. My brother-in-law still has the original diary.
13
A STRAIT is narrowER than the body or bodies of water it connects. Your pair of beautiful straits are narrower than the Pacific Ocean; our misnamed East "River" is narrower than Upper New York Bay and Long Island Sound.
1
That is a very cool look at another time. Thanks for sharing, RiA!
Seraphic is the adjectival form of Seraph (plural Seraphim), one of the highest orders of angels in Jewish/Christian angelology.
It brought to mind the professional choral ensemble a friend of mine founded and directs down in the Miami area, "Seraphic Fire."
Here they are singing Handel's Coronation Anthem "Zadok the Priest."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e9X4WSCTUk
(The video is a little odd due to the visuals being about 1 beat ahead of the audio.)
5
Diverting puzzle but I havenothing to say. There I've said it. I'll see what others have to say. Maybe that will provoke me.
1
Imagine how hard it is for Deb to come up with a full post every weekday, say some interesting and entertaining things, keep it factually and somewhat politically correct, and then have everyone commenting on things she got wrong, and then keep everyone here civil and in line. Cat herder extraordinaire. On the other hand, she does get paid for doing this...
9
We all do. At least I thought we all do. You don't get a check each...? Wait forget it. She is the only one paid. That's true.
Hi Kids!! Today is Tuesday! You know what that means!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gddb96Mr-bQ
1
As a devotee of the MMC, I always preferred 'Anything Can Happen Day' (tom'w) but in and around these here parts (WP, per se) ACHD generally falls on a Thursday.
4
it's Howdy Doody time?
2
Howdy Doody........this is what you volunteer for when you sign up to be a greeter at a 12-step meeting.
2
A little tricky, but not difficult, but it helps some if one can accurately read the clues, which I had a little trouble doing tonight. SERAPHIC was a new word for me, but most of the rest filled in quickly.
For the mini puzzle, 6A "official language of India" evaluates to "Hindi". However India has 23 official languages and no national language. Hindi happens to be the most widely spoken common language in northern India. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India
2
An official language, official language? Crosswordese?
A language can be official and yet not be the only official language. The clue does not imply exclusivity.
The status of official languages in India is complicated:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_with_official_status_in_India
The situtation can be likened to one in which the Mainers and Floridians spoke different languages which weren't related to one another, and those languages were separated by others that might or might not be related to each other up and down the seaboard. Official business might be conducted in some other language that a lot of people knew.
That language, perhaps given the current population, could be Spanish, let's say.
But a crossword clue is a hint, not a definition. There is rarely 100% overlap between the clue and the entry.
2
Hi gp,
I asked Joel Fagliano, the Mini writer and editor about this, and this was his reply:
"From the Indian constitution:
"'Clause 1 of Article 343 of the Constitution of India states that 'The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script.'"
"I researched this and talked it over with Sam (my fact checker) a bunch before publishing. It's the official language of government proceedings, so I think the clue is correct as worded."
4
Dint get the theme until after the solve, reading the revealer. Agreed that having the 3-2 in order and next to each other is much tighter and makes more sense for the theme.
THREE EGG OMELET...isn't that pretty normal? What, just me?
Some interesting entries - how often do we see EXCORIATED and SERAPHIC?
7
You're right, a "normal" omelet is indeed made from three eggs, at least according to my omelet guru, Jacques Pepin:
To start, chop some herbs. ...
Next, crack 3 eggs into a bowl. ...
Before you whisk the eggs, pierce the yolks with a fork; this makes it much easier to blend everything together. ...
Season the eggs with salt and pepper and add the herbs. ...
The eggs need to be REALLY well-blended. ...
Now it's time to cook the omelette.
1
I appreciate the recipe, but I still think that this sounds like a "hearty breakfast order" so I don't really see the issue here.
Definitely hearty, especially if you're ordering the breakfast special at a coffee shop.
Gotta leave room for the bacon and home fries.
I'm not aware of a poker game with 13 cards in one's hand.
7
You beat me to it, Ben. Perhaps someone who has played more poker than we can enlighten us.
That's easy. If you get away with it, it's hard to lose.
1
probably "Chinese poker"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_poker
4
good Tuesday. got FULL HOUSE and the intent of the themes at the same time. liked SOTS as long time members of the bar!
1
Easy but pleasant Tuesday. I enjoyed the full houses, even though I didn't immediately get the reveal. I never watched the show, so maybe that's why not...
1
But the theme is less about the show and more about poker, right? So having watched the show or not really doesn't do much with the theme anyway.
4