Is there any way I can restore my winning streak? I'm visiting in AZ and the transmission lag between NY/CT/AZ/CT/NY is frustratingly long .. 50 seconds to 3 minutes =/- !! Monday I successfully finished the puzzle and was recognized with the happy music and the congratulations for #50 and a few seconds later the transmission lines went down here in AZ and when recovered hours later I could see my completed puzzle BUT apparently they never arrived in NY !! Now i am credited with Tues for a new #1 instead of my hard earned #51 !! sadsadsad Thank you anyway I love Wordplay !!!
PN membrane, anybody?
I loved 35D. It brought back a cool story song, plus it's comforting to see a pop music clue that I'm not old enough to remember!
Meh theme.
But totally awesome trip down memory lane with Teen Beat. I’ll be going to sleep tonight imagining I was back in my 8th grade bedroom, which was plastered with covers and cutouts from the magazine. Swoon!
I've enjoyed my brief sojourn with you all here. Sadly I find I'm not cut out for the puzzles and must move to less challenging things, like novels. Best wishes to you all in 2019!
@Debra Kelley
Come back when you can! Maybe there will be some puzzles and discussions you'll enjoy!
3
@Debra Kelley
Stay
Just a little bit longer
Please, please, please, please, please
Tell us you're going to.
2
@Debra Kelley I hope you will reconsider. I've been doing these for about 7 years now, and I'm still probably the worst solver among the commenters here. I still find it an interesting challenge every day, and occasionally there are days when I actually do pretty well. Plus I enjoy the conversations here (for the most part).
I am, in real life, a highly competitive person. When I started doing these I honestly expected that I would in short order become one of the best solvers here. It didn't happen and it's not going to happen. And, much to my surprise, I was able to get comfortable with that and even find it somewhat of a relief to accept my place at the back of the pack.
I have no reason to think that any of the above applies to you, but you never know. Again, I hope you will reconsider.
4
I hope the US adopts two things like the rest of the world:
1. Living wage for all workers, including servers
2. Metric system
3
@Mr. Mark THANK YOU! As a server I question the knowledge that general population has of the wages per hour. Here in Ohio servers earn $4.15 an hour. You can't pay the bills with that.
4
Dumbest theme ever. Never would have figured that out without your explanation. And why were the long down clues not included in this...
1
Many thanks to John on the crossword team for saving that pesky streak for me.
For the SECOND time a solved crossword made itself inexplicably into an unsolved one. Streakers (sorry,) should be advised never to trust hotel WiFi systems when traveling. I’m not sure how it was done, but the gold label appeared on Saturday, then got converted into a blue at the END of the next day, after a long struggle with Sunday’s puzzle.
Bravo NYT crossword support team.
2
I was looking forward to finding out what channel has "many science shows" (19A), but it turns out Kingsley and Shortz are as misled as everyone else about cable channel names. Nat Geo RARELY has any nature shows any more, let alone science. Just like Animal Planet, TLC and Discovery, most air time is filled with "reality" shows or BS about aliens, etc. Thank goodness for PBS (though lately they're always in need of funds [hint hint]), and the occasional BBC Earth.
3
When was history last on the History Channel ?
And don't forget Science Fridays on NPR.
1
I must say that the clue for 63 down was very incorrect. Tips to service staff are not “extra”, it is almost the entirety of their income. Throughout the country they are paid ~$5 an hour. At most places the server is tipping out the support staff (food runner, server assistant, bartender, even the person who polishes the silverware) 8-10% of their sales. This means that if a person does not see it necessary to leave “extra” the server pays out of their own pocket to the support staff. If people want us to act like professionals, please treat us as such.
There has been a lot of debate around tipping lately. And while I agree that it really isn’t the best system, the fact is that it is the current system and we need to operate in it until we find a solution. Please don’t encourage the underpayment of hard working people in your paper. The restaurant industry is toxic enough, at least let me get paid.
7
@Julia
Your interpretation is incorrect. For the person leaving the tip, it is definitely extra. It is rarely mandated on the check, and although it is an ingrained custom, a tip is nevertheless a voluntary payment. The fact that almost everyone knows to leave a tip doesn't make it any less voluntary. Voluntary admissions fees at museums work the same way.
You may argue that your livelihood depends on a 20% tip, but the customer has a different point of view. If the service is poor, there's no reason a server should be rewarded with a big tip. On the other hand, if the service was superior, no one has to keep to just 20%. How much extra--i.e. how much above the stated total on the check--is up to the customer.
The fact that there is no recourse when the service is excellent and the customer chooses not to leave a decent tip is something that the restaurant industry might work to rectify. Perhaps servers should get a living wage by law and menu prices should be raised 20%. But many customers may prefer the status quo and continue to have the power to reward good service and withhold the reward when service is lacking.
And by the way (for earlier commenters), Google and you will see that practically all sites recommend 15-20%, not the certain 20% that some of you believe is owed to you. I know this is NYC, but you can't wish away the rules because you need more money.
2
@Steve L and others
During the past few years a group of NYC restaurants have adjusted their prices to "hospitality included" so that the meal tab automatically contains the tips for the wait and kitchen staff. Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe and The Modern have led this movement and continue to maintain it.
2
@Steve L Glad to know you've never had a bad day at work; I'm sure your company would have reduced your salary for that day if you had.
You're right that everyone is free to go above or below the 'expected' percentage on a tip, but it still matters what the base line percentage is understood to be.
A long time ago I worked for several years doing manual labor in Florida; was married and had 2 kids for most of that time (3 towards the end). At the time Florida had a reduced minimum wage (below the national standard) for anything agricultural. That, of course, was interpreted as anything vaguely related to to plant life, including nursery work, landscaping,sod, sprinkler systems, trimming trees, etc.. I worked in all of those at one time or another. Plus there was no 'time-and-a-half' for overtime. That actually turned out to be the saving grace, since it meant that I could work 10+ hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week and usually manage to scrape by. Usually.
Now I'm a very heavy tipper, even when the service isn't all that great. Probably just coincidental.
9
Finally a way below average solve time after more than a week of slow. I didn’t see the theme at all, but that didn’t affect ability to solve either. I’ll say this though, the ABSENCE of NUTBREAD and CURED HAM in my ABODE (sorry to reach back to Sunday for that) does not have me PUT OUT at all.
Busy day today. Dr appointment for me in the morning then waiting by the phone to get Maren's (my long coat Chihuahua) test results. Normal! She had a liver infection.
Speaking of pets, I had no problem with PETCAT.
ELROPO and ELSTON not-knowns for me, but they were easy to get with their crosses.
I found the NE corner difficult with RUGER and NATGEO
Otherwise a pleasant Monday solve.
1
Had a natick with EL ROPa and ELSTaN. Finally looked at the column to find my error. Plopped in the O and heard the happy music. I’m counting it! A little slow for a Monday, but done. Theme, what theme?
;-)
2
Just Carol,
For the next Natick time, the EL should give you an O (and a LA should give you an A).
(From yesterday, play MISTI for me)
3
@Barry Ancona - not always: el agua, la mano, e.g.
4
David,
Hence my "should," not "will." Exceptions are such fun. Next up: irregular verbs.
3
Got up late, had a worker due early, rushed through breakfast while filling in the puzzle, bam, the end. I never even looked for a theme, tsk.
OSRIC was a gimme--constructors love Yorick and OSRIC); the ball player was a total unknown (whew, so glad for the crosses!)
So, I guess Andrew has cast his pearls before, well, me--at the very least. I promise to try harder tomorrow!
4
You can't make a Monday tough ENOUGH, as far as I'm concerned, so I'm a happy camper today. Some unusually challenging Monday clues: My English class spent three months studying "Hamlet" in great depth Freshman Year in high school with a teacher who was a Brit. She had us comparing Gielgud's "To Be Or Not To Be" soliloquy with Olivier's, for just one thing. (I liked Gielgud's much more. I've always found Olivier something of a CURED HAM, anyway). Mrs. Gordon, the teacher, also had us memorizing various other soliloquies. (Mine was the non-melting, too-too solid flesh one.) And yet I still didn't know/remember who oversaw that famous duel. Did any of you?
I practically stood on my head to try to get LUGER for the gun company, but LAB RAT made it impossible. I sighed, gave up, and put in RUGER. I don't know my firearm companies at all. Yay, me.
PUT OUT came in before I saw the clue. I thought it was going to be a sexual reference. Then I realized that's an old-timey, possibly misogynistic term that goes all the way back to the days of PAT RILEY and ELSTON Howard. Glad it was clued in a more modern way.
Nice Monday.
4
@Nancy - I wonder how this Hamlet sits with you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDdyafsR7g
I like it, though it is very mannered in its way.
@Nancy - I only remembered OSRIC as I am an English teacher myself and taught the play earlier this school year. Another commenter said OSRIC is commonly used like YORRICK, but the former has not crossed my path in xwords while the latter certainly has.
@David Connell
There's just one teensy little problem, David. It isn't Hamlet. It's Macbeth :)
El Ropo? Come on...
1
Arcturus,
I've heard the term used for quite a while for a cheap cigar, but on the handy internet I found a cite from the trade magazine "Chain Store Age" from 1927, so it's been in circulation for more than a while.
@Arcturus A more modern term is DOG ROCKET
Q. What's the difference between a LABRAT and Theseus?
A. No clew.
8
@Etaoin Shrdlu, this could be the start of a great thread.
7
@Leapfinger
If it doesn't turn into a yarn.
6
A. One letter.
2
My five favorite clues from last week:
1. Author known for the intelligence of his writing (7)
2. Line at a dance (9)
3. Its spirit may be broken (3)
4. What a jam is packed with (4)
5. Massive star (4)
LE CARRE
MAY I CUT IN
LAW
CARS
IDOL
7
102 comments by 9 AM???? oy.
Got the P-word theme but also missed noticing the N-words ...
Wonder if a 6th p-word was possible: python.
....with a companion N-word in the form of nyet.
Anybody else start 8D with "height"?
First quibble of the year re 44D: when I was in grade school eons ago, one's non-appearance in class was counted as an "absent."
Second quibble: doesn't 10D refer to drinking?
Query of a sort: does 11D make that big a gun?
1
@Dr W,
Re 10D -- I think that would be BOTTOMS UP.
Re 11D -- I haven't checked any stats to verify but I assume the cluing is asking for America's largest manufacturer (by some metric) of firearms.
@Dr W, re: trying to use a 6th vowel - maybe you underestimated the theme slightly. Each of the theme entries have the vowel preceded by P and succeeded by T as a standalone word on the left, and preceded by N and succeeded by T on the right. Thus PAT, PET, PIT, POT, PUT on the left, NAT, NET, NIT, NOT, NUT on the right. NYT and PYT are not words. Nice try though.
@Henry Su, re: 11D - https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/03/04/can-you-guess-the-biggest-gunmaker-in-the-us.aspx
@Wen wrote: "NYT and PYT are not words. Nice try though."
Ah, but they are well-known acronyms.
NYT - do I even have to say it?
PYT - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZZQuj6htF4.
Has any Egyptian pyramid ever been proven to be a tomb? Has a mummy ever been found in a pyramid? Lots have been entombed in the Valley of the Kings but in a pyramid?
Yes, most of the Egyptian pyramids are tombs. Here is the layout of a typical one, with burial chambers for the royal couple:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pyramids#/media/File:Great_Pyramid_Diagram.svg
2
Ahh Su... the TAO of Crossword is revealed at last!
1
@Mike R, thanks. When solving, I always try to enter a nirvana-like state. ;-)
ELROPO? That one seems a little obscure for a Monday.
3
@Audiomagnate
You've probably haven't been in the vicinity of a really smelly cigar.
1
@Audiomagnate
Mundungus!
Going down in the grid: BAT, BET, BOT. Probably coincidence, but maybe he was going for a third set of letters? By Thoth, that would've been something! Especially since PNB is so common.(Please, No Boinking)
Alternate clue for 8A: Valley girl's offspring?
4
@Andrew,
Nice. I accept in lieu of your Canadian corner clue.
With fair warning to the epicures among the readership, I will note that for dinner last night we had scrambled eggs mixed with JIMMYDEAN sausage (plus hash-browns) - a new concoction from the good doctor. It got five star ratings from the clientele, though we didn't leave a TIP. I would happily come back to the five and dime for more of that. And yes, I confess to having quite pedestrian tastes (I'm walkin' here!).
Anyway, nice puzzle - a bit on the challenging side for a Monday. Nothing really tough, it just took me longer than usual to work out some things like TEENBEAT. When I first looked at the grid, I wondered where the theme answers were with no across answer longer than 8 letters. Then caught on to the left side and finally noted the right. Can't say it contributed to the solve, but it's impressive enough to make it worthwhile.
One more side note - actually had a conversation about BAYONETs yesterday. First in regard to their almost complete uselessness as a weapon and then the nonsensical training in how to use them that we had to endure. Does anyone know if the military even issues those things any more?
5
@Rich in Atlanta they worked pretty well at Little Round Top.
@K Barrett Yes, and if we were still using single-shot, muzzle loading weapons, I could understand why they would still be quite useful.
..
1
K Barrett,
I know Rich isn't that old. If my rifle hadn't been at least semi-automatic, I would have wanted a bayonet too.
Rich,
Regardless of use, were you even issued one in country? I wasn't.
2
I returned from my winter vacation to a pile of accumulated newspapers and lots of crossword fun! There were some nice ones over the last couple of weeks!
As for today: At first I thought the theme was "PAT... NET... PIT... NOT... PUT," which seemed weird, until I recognized the other theme entries for what they were. Nice work! I didn't put any smileys (for exceptional clues) today, but I did find the puzzle satisfyingly challenging for a Monday. Evidently like some others, I was unfamiliar with both Elston Howard and the term El Ropo, so completing that cross was guesswork.
There were quite a few entries that seemed very fresh, even if some were also a bit obscure: THOTH, RUGER, and TEEN BEAT among them. Thanks for a good Monday puzzle, Mr Kingsley!
3
Like others, I found this to be a crunchier than usual Monday offering which turned out to be a pleasant Wednesday-ish challenge. It wasn't until I came to Deb's article that I thought, "Oh, yeah, I guess there was a theme." So I never needed or noticed the theme while solving, but thought it was an admirable construction feat in retrospect.
Of course, being of a certain age was an advantage today. The wheelhouse seemed to favor us Boomer types. Nothing specifically Millennial, unless you count CSI which is old enough to vote by now anyway.
4
@Alan J Yes to both: pleasingly crunchy and missed the theme entirely (I usually do). It also works for us pre-Boomers.
2
With a KITT and a CAT, I feel like a candy bar. Sweet Monday. Didn't think about the theme until it was OVER, but at least I got it once I did -- although my initial thought after PAT/NAT was a word ladder. Liked the top row mini-theme of CAB/GAB/LAB.
2
Has no one posted the Spelling Bee grid yet because it was just too easy today?
QB 21 words 96 points 1 pangram
Total 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
G 2 1 1
H 7 4 3
O 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
T 8 2 2 2 2
Y 2 0 1 1
6
@Phil P
I don’t know, but today is the first time I’ve made Queen Bee without having to check the grid. (And yes, I completed it very quickly.)
1
@Phil P
Thanks for the grid, Phil P!
I was stuck for a long time at 20/86 then gave up and checked to see if the grid was posted.
After way too long it dawned on me that the 10 letter "o" word had to be a compound & that's when I got it.
3
@Phil P - thanks for posting the info.
@susgraham, funny enough, that 10-letter O-word is making its 5th appearance. It always takes a bit of...time to think of it.
There were 2 words new to SB today.
Yesterday's new words were: BATON, BOATMAN, CANNOT, CANTO, CANTON, COMBATANT, CONTACT, NONCOMBATANT, OCTANT
3
A PaeaN to orderly (B)Vowels
1
Decent Monday fare. Unfortunately I developed a bit of a twitch on POTHOLES as on Christmas Eve I had the unfortunate luck to hit a very large one (in a car with very stiff suspension), causing me to blow a tyre and crack my shock absorber.
Nothing else to say about this one, really. Think I'd much rather have some CUREDHAM than some NUTBREAD.
1
Hmmm, TSAR with a T.
Missed the theme, what is new there, put as others have written enjoyed the solve.
CUREDHAM reminded me of my summer treat: Pancetta. Brother in law acquired some and for a few days: Fat city.
Thank you Andrew
Well, my only complaint about the puzzle is this, and the following is a true story. Seven years ago I was in a group of eight people -- none of us knew each other -- climbing a well-known peak in another continent. A lady in our group had a habit that drove me nuts. At least six times a day she would suddenly break out into Dean Martin's, "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore". She did it with an ersatz Italian accent. I'm sure she thought it was endearing, but the more she did it, the more grating it became to me. I soon had a fantasy, no, not of hurling her off the mountain, but of finding the perfect thing to say to her, some ostensibly-witty-but-in-actuality-so-deeply-cutting comment that would nix her from ever chirping out this blasted ditty again, after which I would be able to enjoy her presence (aside from her little habit, she was quite charming). She would become -- and I swear, never having thought about this for seven years, and suddenly it becoming as clear as yesterday because of seeing CURED HAM in the puzzle -- reformed. No, I never did think of the perfect witticism to end her sing-song attack and I endured it all the way up and all the way down that magnificent mountain. And I will go right back to forgetting about it, thank you.
8
@Lewis
When the moon-a hits your eye like a big apizza pie dat's Amore!!
Sorry, Lewis... it had to be done... :)
1
@Lewis
When a fish bites your heel and it looks like an eel,
That's a moray!
19
@Lewis
When you meet you a fellow, whose name is Othello,
that's a Moor, eh!
15
This was a really fun Monday puzzle — easy but with lots of cleverness to it. I’ll admit I missed the vowel run aspect of it until I read the blog. But appreciated the comments that let me in on the trick!
2
I never saw the multilayered theme; I was watching football while solving. I, for one, loved seeing Elston Howard in the puzzle.
4
I had nothing I was sure of in the top section, sort of unnerving for a Monday. As I continued on I noticed the NET & NIT in 27& 40A, so thought vowel run and went back up to 17A to enter Nat. This did not help my "easy" Monday solve one bit.
Eventually I noticed the P part of the double vowel run, back again to 17A, to enter PAT, got enough letters to try RILEY, which I google checked. I also had many of the same "no knows" as others so found this quite a challenging Monday. Eartha KITT was a gimme, however, and always a delight to see ( and hear)
5
Today's Mini had, for me, two great misdirections. "Elevate a golf ball" and "Long, quiet stretches". Admitting that I have been had is good for me, and fun. Unless, of course, it is by one of my brothers or sisters. Naming no names.
2
I would love to see just one puzzle that didn’t include a baseball clue. Here, the ridiculous ELSTON/ELROPO cross stymied me on an otherwise easy peasy Monday.
12
There was a surprise birthday dinner for our ikebana sensei tonight. We were to pick her up and take her to a restaurant full of her students.
On the way to get her, someone ran a red light and squashed the front end of our car. Elaine and I are fine. Furthermore, there was a police car behind us. If you've got to have an accident, I guess the two things to ask for are no injuries and a cop to see it was the other driver's fault.
I don't know how the surprise went, but I'm sure that sensei was surprised when somebody else picked her up. Hopefully, they spun a good story.
Back to insurance and alternate transportation.
9
@Martin hope it goes as easily as mine did in October.
1
@Martin,
I'm sorry to hear about the accident and glad to hear that you and Elaine are fine (aside from the hassle of dealing with insurance and fixing your car).
2
@Martin
Glad to hear you are both unharmed.
1
"Why P and N?"
P = positive
N = negative
The grid is perfectly balanced.
21
@Henry Su yeah, what he said. great find. :) balanced to a "T". 4 layers deep...
3
@Jason, and the three-letter P and N words rhyme perfectly, with the exception of put and nut.
1
@Henry Su best tiramisu ever.
Why P and N? Me thinks because that allowed it to be three layers deep, kinda like tiramisu. I love tiramisu.
i.e., all of the lead words in the theme answers end in T.
pAT nAT
pET nET
pIT nIT
pOT nOT
pUT nUT
Time for a PiNT.
14
Went fast other than the naticks on PATRILEY / OSRIC and ELSTON / ELROPO... guess I need to brush up on my sports history and cigar smoking!
7
Starting a new streak, hopefully! :) That was really neat: the AEIOU thing! On both sides too!! Wow! I didn't know there was a theme to the other day puzzles Mon thru Sat. Interesting!
1
Ha. Today I totally missed that there was a theme, never mind the cleverness of doing it twice, until I read Deb's comments.
Having no grasp of any sort of sportsball, I had no idea about Pat Riley, and was stuck with a Natick at the cross with 5D. Had to go through the alphabet - only understood the 5D clue once the L had conjured the happy music, and took another couple of beats to make sense of PATRILEY, which I at first took for one surname....ha.
4
The only reason I know Eartha KITT is because she voices Yzma in the Emperor's New Groove and wow is her voice incredibly/ funny / powerful!
She also has a great song "I Want to Be Evil" that I listened to this past year and love.
Love that film! Might be time to introduce our baby to such a treasure.
1
@Connor Kirkpatrick
It's a bit past the season, but this is my favorite Eartha KITT song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk_GmhD053E
2
I don’t even have to listen! It has GOT to be “Santa Baby”!!! And it’s one of my very favorites too.
2
I was initially convinced that lab rat and pet cat had to belong together in the theme. That slowed me in catching on to the theme, but not in solving the puzzle.
this is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built
9
When are RUGER, JIMMY DEAN, TEEN BEAT, EL ROPO, NIE and KITT walks in the park? When OSRIC, THOTH, ELSTON, and OVULE show up. Must be a Monday!
3
"... certain words in phrases are put in “vowel order” (A, E, I, O, U)."
Maybe AEIOU goes with EIEIO (in the Mini)?
1
"Why P and N? Who knows; maybe these were the only sets that worked together."
I got it!
Take the PIT from PIT BOSS, reverse the letters, and combine with the NOT from NOT YET. What do you get? NOT TIP. It clearly relates to the whole 15% tip controversy. A hidden gem!
I will await your collective applause.
Talk about a Monday's money's worth!
(ps just kidding)
8
Applause will come when you can describe the sound of one hand clapping Grasshopper.
2
Please explain the uncle ... enough link to me! I think it’s a cultural reference that didn’t make it to my part of the world.
@Caitríona,
When you say "Uncle," it's like saying "I give up," or "You win." It's a cry of surrender or way of admitting defeat, in a way similar to crying "Enough!"
2
Caitríona,
"Uncle!" (in a real or metaphoric fight) is what you say when you give up.
(I'll look for a cite)
The cites agree that it's a North American (English language) expression. Nobody knows how it got here, but there are some references to Ireland(!) and to the Roman Empire.
This is the kind of puzzle that you can marvel over after it's all filled in. In addition to the double vowel run, the vowel sounds are almost a perfect match--only put \ˈpu̇t\ and nut \ˈnət\ are different.
EL ROPO and ELSTON may be a Natick for some; otherwise, I thought the fill was not too taxing for a Monday.
3
And I guess if you don't follow pro basketball, you're fine if you know weaponry, computing and Shakespeare.
4
I’ve seen “Natick” mentioned many times now- would someone care to help a girl out and explain?! :)
6
@MJ
See:
http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/
1
Finished but completely missed the theme. Tip you waiters 20%!!
13
Unless the service has been great.
Math majors generally agree that ONE is the first natural number, it’s computer scientists and logicians who could explain at LENGTH why you’re wrong.
5
Sorry but to this set theorist, any attempt at constructing the natural numbers starts at zero, corresponding to the cardinality of the empty set.
4
@Patrick Jordan
That is all well and good, but say I’m going to count the number of items in a pile. My opening number will always be 1.
1
@Andria
And ONE is the loneliest number that you'll ever do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiKcd7yPLdU
1
Whether old hands or new like the type of theme or how it was executed, I share Jeff Chen's concern this may be a bit of a rough Monday for newer solvers.
5
I still consider myself fairly new and while I had no idea about the sports people and had to look to this blog for the answer, I was still very proud to have done the rest on my own, and in one of my faster times. I think it had enough points of entry to make even us novices feel cheered on.
8
@Barry Ancona
Although it may not necessarily be indicative of how a new solver would fare, my time was on the faster side for this one.
On the other hand, the theme of this one (as opposed to yesterday's) did NOT jump right out at me. I went through the puzzle so fast that I didn't recognize the theme until I was done. And then I was impressed.
2
Siobhan,
I'm glad you felt cheered on. Perhaps I'm turning into a softie, but I thought Mondays were supposed to let fairly new folks solve *without* having to turn to the column at all (i.e., names people might not know are crossed with things they could be reasonably expected to know).
2
I know that a lot of people describe their engine as a TURBO, but in fact a turbo is an accessory or component of an engine. The engine in Nigel, my Mini, has a turbo, which gives him both more pep and better mileage.
2
Huzzah, my avatar is back.
2
@Wags--they've been back the last couple of days.
(I received your two latest books as Christmas presents. Looking forward to reading one on an upcoming trip to the beach, and the other one later this spring while I'm in Rome).
3
@Liz B
Thanks, Liz, let me know how you like them.
2
Hi Deb,
PET CAT as opposed to pet dog. What's to NITPICK? And it's third person; it's not about what your kids call you, but what your kids' friends call you. They don't call you "Mom;" they may call you "[your kid's name]'s mom." Or something else. As long as they don't call you late to NUTBREAD.
7
@Barry Ancona I generally don't call my dog a PET DOG. She's just "dog" (sometimes Queen of All She Surveys) like I'm just mom. PET seems extraneous.
2
Deb,
Garfield is a cat for anyone and everyone, but Garfield is only Jon Arbuckle's pet (cat).
3
@Barry Ancona,
I'm with Deb on this one. Since the clueing implies "what Jon Arbuckle calls Garfield," the wording of PETCAT seems a bit redundant.
2
Picked up on the double vowel run about halfway through. Made the last half a bit easier. Except for trying to remember PAT RILEY and TEENBEAT it was a pretty non-stressful process.
1
Second in a row where I didn’t see the theme but didn’t need to, and also found some clues I liked. In this one I liked the set up of John, Paul ... which had me thinking George, Ringo.
Any restaurant staff will be troubled by 15% as the standard for a TIP. Haven’t we gone to 20% long ago?
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15%? Shame on Newsguild members for not standing up for other workers.
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@Mr. Mark, Yes! Not only do I use a 20% stsndard, I also round up to the nearest whole number, and if the service was exceptional, to the nearest multiple of 5. I worked one day (just one!) as a busboy in my long ago youth, and the (obviously) negative experience (for me, anyway) gave me a respect for food service workers that has lasted to this day.
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Fun to see a double-sided vowel run! I like to see this kind of theme occasionally, and this one felt fresh. I liked that the first syllable of each theme answer stands on its own as a separate word--yes, NITPICK and POTHOLES are one word, but NIT and POT are a separate part of them--there's no PAThway or NETher or PITterpat, etc. That added an extra layer of enjoyment for me.
4
Smooth and easy. Except I didn't know EL ROPO and ELSTON Howard, also CABO San Lucas. But managed to complete somehow anyway. Nothing to be PUT OUT or NITPICK about.
Good and solid.
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@Wen
Ditto ELROPO and ELSTON. Another Natick at ELROPO/OVULE. Tough corner!
1
Easy first Monday of the year
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