Cmon Deb? No mention of Chocalate Thunder? Though theme might be obscure nicknames of former NBA players.
Did the puzzle as usual first thing this morning, but terribly late to the party. Enjoyed the puzzle and the comments, but never enjoyed a NEAPOLITAN. Not a single of the three flavors ever interested me. In fact, I don't care at all for STRAWBERRY and only would have VANILLA or CHOCOLATE in a dire emergency. I grew up in the Bronx and Breyer's ice cream was available in candy stores on most corners. I have always been a coffee girl. Always will be.
1
Off my personal best by only 30 sec. The downs seemed particulaly easy -- fortunate since I've never heard of either VANILLASKY or CHOCOLATETHUNDER!
This puzzle is another example of the skill of constructors in finding theme entries that maintain symmetry, to wit, entries for chocolate and strawberry that are of the same length and one for vanilla that matches the length of the revealer. Kudos, Mr Barkin!
Reminds me: After finishing and noticing the constructor's name, I flashed on the ice creamery Ba*s*kins and Robbins. :)
4
This was quick and easy but also fun. Made me smile, which is a great way to start the week.
5
Bad puzzle day for me. This morning I cld not get to Deb's blog, and LAT and Dell puzzles would not download.
Phooey, am giving up. Tomorrow, maybe?
What a joy of a Monday puzzle to do. I sat, doing it, smiling and loving it. My first gimmee was 17A IOWA which I knew long before I thought of politics. I grew up there. Getting 56A quickly after doing the downs. BYOB to GREY to LIN, LEIA and AKITA. The crosses were fun, and the downs after were just so nice.
It's a great puzzle Mr. Barkin. Thanks.
2
Hello denizens of New York City--
I've been staring at the photo of Morgenstern's and trying to read the backward printing over the front windows. I found it on Google Maps and it reads SPURS CAFE PAINTS ENGINEERS. Clearly the remnants of a previous incarnation. Does anyone know what the building was before it was Morgenstern's?
1
@Liz B,
Some sleuthing reveals that the Greenwich Village location used to be a Silver Spurs diner, https://ny.eater.com/2018/3/15/17123632/silver-spurs-closing-nyc.
3
Perhaps the cafe put PAINTS and ENGINEERS on their sign to signify something about the history of the site. It was there for 40 years. That building is on the corner of the South Village Historic District.
3
@Liz B - we are cut from the same cloth. The words were intriguing me, too.
There's a scene in Men in Black that takes place in a Russian eatery in NYC - the neon sign in the window says "Russian Cuisine" - in Cyrillic lettering - backwards. Very distracting for a moment when I saw the film.
4
Given all the commenters today reminiscing about Darryl Dawkins and his prowess and impact in the NBA, I'm surprised no one has mentioned how he got his nickname CHOCOLATE THUNDER.
TIL that the name was given to him by Stevie Wonder. Here's the relevant excerpt of a Q&A between Dime Magazine and Dawkins:
Dime: How did the nickname Chocolate Thunder originate?
DD: Stevie Wonder used to come to the ball games and they would have a guy sitting with him. And the guy would be holding on to his arm, telling him what’s going on, and he would say, “Hey, the big chocolate guy just put down a thunder dunk. The chocolate guy with another monster dunk.” And Stevie Wonder actually gave me the nickname Chocolate Thunder. So a guy who never saw me can give me that name. I think I can wear that well. I don’t even know if he remembers, it’s been so long, but I’ll keep that.
12
@Henry Su
Thank you for that lovely excerpt.
3
@Henry Su
Very cool. Thought it was Bob DYLAN. Coincidentally, or not, his famous Rolling Thunder Revue tour took place in 1975, the same year that Darryl Dawkins started in the NBA.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Thunder_Revue
Coda: Stevie Wonder and John Legend performing Blowin’ in the Wind:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z6tPZ1IL9s
1
Found the puzzle quite easy, although the themers didn't really work for. I think I've heard of "VANILLA SKY," but I don't see many movies and pretty much avoid Tom Cruise. Never heard of Darryl Dawkins or CHOCOLATE THUNDER. I've heard of Amy Adams and Emma Stone, but don't have a clear idea of who they are or what they look like.
I have, alas, been exposed to NEAPOLITAN ice cream. I remember as a child trying to get as much chocolate as possible without contaminating a single bit of it with the disgusting strawberry.
Interesting comments today though. I was particularly struck by the belief that everyone has giant refrigerators with giant freezer compartments, capable of storing multiple containers of ice cream. Small refrigerator here, with small freezer, mostly taken up with ice cubes and occasionally emergency supplies of frozen veg.
4
I thought for neapolitan the vanilla was in the middle?
2
My five favorite clues from last week:
1. Help for a star witness? (9)
2. Metric unit (4)
3. Field of flowers (6)
4. Small square (4)
5. Places for toasters and roasters (6)
TELESCOPE
IAMB
BOTANY
NINE
DAISES
18
@ Lewis in Asheville, NC
Dear Lewis,
I love these weeklies, reminding me of the good ones and taking a moment to savor them.
Thank you.
ADeNA
11
I always look forward to your list. Thanks!
6
As long as we’re all talking favourite flavours my local place makes black cherry ice cream, huge bing cherries in a plain cream base floured with almond liqueur.
Also, I have to protest at MOL describing coffee as a FLAVOURING in ice cream. Good ice cream makers use coffee as almost a primary ingredient. Another local place (this is dairy country, there’s countless ice cream makers here) makes espresso ice cream with ground espresso in the ice cream which might not sound good but is heavenly.
I can understand your not liking it though. I like peanut butter but hate it in sweet things, and I think it would be better to destroy all Oreo cookies. I think they’re disgusting. I realize that puts me in a minority.
3
@Frances
I search for the perfect coffee ice cream, the holy grail, coming close, but usually a bit short in one way or another. For me it's the childhood memory of what was once Howard Johnson's Coffee Ice Cream.
On Cape Cod, I pulled up to one of the last Howard Johnson ice cream joints. It had closed its doors for good two weeks earlier. As I dejectedly walked back to my car, a woman approached, and I shared the sad news. She too was craving their coffee ice cream.
I tried every brand I could and was always at least a bit disappointed. Then one day I was in a Thai restaurant and ordered a Thai iced coffee. One sip, and I stood up and yelled, "That's it!" The waiter approached and anxiously asked, "What's wrong?" I asked what was in the iced coffee, besides sugar and cream. The answer: cardamom. The missing flavor Howard Johnson used but others leave out of their coffee ice creams.
8
@Frances
My most heavenly experience in Western Massachusetts when I first moved to the area was my first taste of locally made frozen pudding ice cream. There is no other memory of food that could rival it.
My husband detests peanut butter but loves Oreo cookies. I wish it’s the other way round because it would mean I could try recipes that call for peanut butter that I would enjoy.
2
@ClutchCargo - I've been making home-made ice cream for a while and studied a lot of recipes. Some of what I've learned to love:
Cardamom in Coffee or Maple ice cream
Dried coffee crystals are better than brewed coffee for Coffee ice cream
Cayenne (yes!) in Chocolate ice cream
and liqueurs (which have to be added late, 1T.):
Amaretto for Apricot ice cream
Rye whiskey for Chocolate ice cream
Kirschwasser for Strawberry ice cream
Grand Marnier for Pomegranate / Berry ice cream
and fresh-squeezed Lemon juice for fresh fruits (Fig, Peach, Nectarine)
Just some ideas to share...
2
I never liked NEAPOLITAN ice cream but I loved this Monday puzzle. Perfectly served simple theme, executed as smoothly as, well, ice cream. Beautifully done Howard Barkin!
I love the comments today, too.
So, we're off to a great start ... with dessert!
There is nobody like Bob Dylan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7qQ6_RV4VQ
5
SPELLING BEE Thread
43/184, 1 Pangram
∑ 4 5 6 7 8
A 6 2 - 2 - 2
B 11 3 1 3 3 1
E 5 1 2 2 - -
L 5 2 - 3 - -
M 8 4 3 1 - -
N 7 4 1 1 - 1
Y 1 1 - - - -
∑ 43 17 7 12 3 4
20
@Evan Well. Came to join in with everyone who wants to complain about the arbitrary nature of the Bee Keeper with respect to able and ably suffixes- only to find no other comments!
Guess that means I should just be quiet...
2
@Evan - Thanks! Got everything except the 8-letter B.
Doh! The 8-letter B just got through my thick skull.
I never had much use for NEAPOLITAN ice cream, personally. VANILLA is for putting on top of peach cobbler, pecan pie, or butter pecan pound cake (which is what we did last night.). STRAWBERRY ice cream....meh; prefer them fresh. In ice cream, CHOCOLATE is usually not enoughh of a presence; I am a sucker, however, for Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey, which didn't make it into the puzzle. And I am grateful to Howard Barkin for not including coffee/mocha flavoring; ugh. (I am savoring my lone cup of morning coffee just now; I just don't care for it as a flavoring.)
Welp, out of opinions for today, although if asked for any further input, I will say that more than 24 hours of heavy rain is more than enough; (this state was already having flooding issues. The poor farmers!).
Everyone stay safe in whatever weather you are encountering!
1
@Mean Old Lady
I’m confused by the concept of “flavored coffees”. I say coffee is a flavor itself, and the proof is coffee ice cream.
2
Spumoni please, intoned Tom icily.
alot for ATON gave H. Pencil a morning 2D.
IMHO GRAY is spelled as noted. However....
Thanks Howard
2
@dk
The tea is named for an Earl...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Grey,_2nd_Earl_Grey
1
I see I'm not alone in thinking of a tub of Neapolitan as a waste of 2/3 of the tub, or, to put the positive spin on it, each one gets what they want and no leftovers to put away.
The ancient Greek mariners took the idea of city out across the Mediterranean and left Greek names all over.
Naples - Italian Napoli - was the old Greek port of Neapolis - "the new city", whence Neapolitan.
Nice - was the site of a military victory over the Gauls and dedicated to the victory goddess Nike (Nikaia).
Antibes - was across the bay from Nice - Antipolis Nikaiai.
Marseilles is the descendant of the major Greek colony of Massalia.
All worthy of visiting now as much as 2,500 years ago.
7
And in the Adriatic, David...
Ancona was founded by Greek settlers from Syracuse in about 387 BC, who gave it its name: Ancona stems from the Greek word Ἀγκών (Ankòn), meaning "elbow"; the harbour to the east of the town was originally protected only by the promontory on the north, shaped like an elbow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancona
3
@Barry Ancona
For any opera fans Ancona is the birthplace of Franco Corelli one of the greatest Italian tenors and a favorite of mine when I was a frequent Met opera goer back in the 60s and 70s.
2
@David Connell
Growing up, if there was a box of Breyer's Neapolitan in the freezer, it lasted longer than any other ice cream and always had very interesting scoop marks. My recollection was that the chocolate side always emptied first.
2
A sweet puzzle indeed! I could see I was coming in under 8 minutes, so was going for my new best, under 7:48. Finished with the Almost There! box due, not to a mistaken entry, but a pesky little typo. Better luck next time.....
3
Aton?
@Barbara Little
A ton
2
The only real cringe-inducer is OWER at 13-D, but there's an easy fix. OWER could easily become EWER, with BYOB changing to BLED, YORE to LORE, BAYS to DAYS. Otherwise, smooth sailing everywhere (well, there's also IAL...), fun theme, and a fine puzzle for Monday solvers.
1
@CPW
Thanks for the comment! I was trying to rework that corner late at night, and I believe I may have thought EWER too difficult for an easier puzzle, then never went back to rethink that one. As rough as OWER is, it might have been more guessable than EWER; but your design seems a little smoother overall.
We'll never know ;).
IAL was unfortunately much harder to deal with.
5
@Howard Barkin
I just ascribed that to "Somewhere OWER the Wainbow" and let it go...
IAL was a little dorky, but the clue did a lot to increase the palatability
And it was fun to fill, from start to fin[ial]
1
PS: Also fun to find a Barkin AKITA, since they usually don't.
7
Clever theme and a smooth solve even though I needed to work the crosses for all of the theme answers. Five years ago I would have remembered CHOCOLATETHUNDER from the clue; today I needed enough to suggest CHOCOLATE before it dawned on me. Vaguely recalled that there was a film called VANILLASKY but couldn't have told you anything about it or who was in it.
After I was finished my brain wandered and probably took a couple of left turns. First I was thinking about songs with colors in the title - Strawberry Beret, Purple Rain, Purple Haze - a few others - wondering if there might be a possible theme there. Second left turn was thinking about Lady Mondegreen and similarly wondering about that as a theme. Was surprised to find out that mondegreen has never been in a puzzle Nor has 'misheard,' so I'm guessing that's never been the basis for a theme. Seems like there should be numerous possibilities.
Enough of that. Excuse me while I kiss this guy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjwWjx7Cw8I
..
5
@Rich in Atlanta
Rasberry Beret, yes?
2
@Floyd
I mean Raspberry!
1
@Floyd Yes.
..
1
Fun one for my 100th days in a row :) New personal best !
14
Yay Cathy!
1
Congratulations!!
1
@Cathy P
Great going! :)
Three crosses stood out to me on this solid Monday -- CALM DOWN /THAW, BIG BANG/THUNDER, and OMIT/NOT AT ALL -- and AKITA fits right in a Barkin' puzzle.
6
@Lewis
"AKITA fits right in a Barkin puzzle"
Zing.
(Notches one point on the wall for Lewis).
4
Constructors at twenty paces...
5
I also got caught out by misspelling NEAPOLITAN, but thankfully managed to catch it with 58D. An otherwise straightforward fill thanks to helpful crossings (as a Brit, I have to admit I've never heard of Darryl Dawkins) and a personal best (7:40).
1
Very smooth solve except for my misspelling of NEAPOLITAN which I mentioned in a reply. Lots in interesting fill, but all Monday easy or easily figured out from the crosses like the first two theme answers for me. I enjoyed reading the comments about Darryl Dawkins whom I hadn't heard of.
BYOB reminded me of restaurants in Australia. When we were there it was possible at most restaurants to bring a bottle of wine and no corkage fee. With lots of fine wineries to visit this was a great system.
4
Ah Neapolitan - one of my favourite things to order from the In N' Out secret menu. This solve was my Monday personal best too.
Now I want some burgers and milkshake.
2
Fun Monday! Enjoyed the theme and now I want some ice cream :) Would have finished faster had I not mispelled NEAPOLITAN (thought it was NEO-) doh!
1
@Lady Stark,
I had the same misspelling and it took me ages to find my error. I never looked at the clue for AMIE apparently.
2
In my home town of Boston, the vanilla-chocolate-strawberry combination was called ''harlequin" (which is a letter too short for the space!)
2
@RP Burke Do they still call milk shakes "cabinets"?
@Al in Pittsburgh - That's Rhode Island talk there!
@Al in Pittsburgh
That would be a frappe!
1
Chocolate Thunder, I remember him well from my youth. Could we use that nickname ever again, I dare ask?
Poor Darryl, he just missed out on the Sixers' championship and died way too young (my age, darn it). There's a young man who needed more time to mature before being thrust into the role of a millionaire in the NBA right from high school.
The puzzle, aside from making me feel maudlin for Darryl, was pretty standard Monday fare. Soused and sussed it in five minutes. Hey, it was my BFF's 65th; wine (not Chianti, @Wen) was well represented. A nice Sancerre to go with my Chicken Marsala. A little Neapolitan ice cream would have been a good finish, but I only have one bowl for my ice cream maker, so that was never going to happen.
11
Beautiful sentiments, Liane. The professional athletes I tend to admire the most are the ones who are able to keep perspective and have fun (it’s a game!) even when they compete hard. So, even though DD never won an NBA championship or quite lived up to his potential, he was able to keep his sense of humor and emphasized the joy of the game over the years. Not to mention having some Ali-esque wordplay skills. Here’s an excellent NYT obit from 2015:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/sports/basketball/darryl-dawkins-nbas-lovable-chocolate-thunder-dies-at-58.html
10
@Liane
Loved seeing Chocolate Thunder in the crossword. He and Dr. J sure made the Sixers fun to watch!
It’s only now reading through the comments that I learned of Daryl’s passing. Definitely a downer :-(
4
Nice list of class acts in this thread. I'll add a couple more.
The only NBA game I ever attended was in 1972 in Milwaukee. That team featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson (I could toss in Bob Dandridge also). I had just returned to college in Appleton, Wis. after the service. I remember that I bought my first TV* (used) that year - almost entirely so that I could watch the Bucks.
And as I typed all that out, I realize that I almost never watch the NBA any more. Used to be addicted to it.
*Not the first TV I ever watched - just the first one that I owned.
6
Unlike Zeytinz, Morgenstern's is open for adventuresome dessert lovers. Maybe Mr. Morgenstern should link to Wordplay as his shop's third appearance in NYT, http://www.morgensternsnyc.com/about/.
Henry,
I doubt it. I'm not surprised that Morgenstern's does not list anything as plebeian as NEAPOLITAN as one of its "flavors."
(I probably won't trek all the way down to Houston Street for Morgenstern's, with both Van Leeuwen and Sundaes and Cones on 10th Street.)
@Barry Ancona,
I checked the menu too!
Hey, all. This has nothing to do with today's puzzle. But, if you want to have a lot of fun solving in honor of President's Day, go to the archives for the February 20, 2000 puzzle.
4
I grew up with Pet brand Neapolitan ice cream and like Mr. Barkin's daughters, my two sisters and I split up the flavors, one for each of us. In the decades since, ice cream flavors have of course become more sophisticated and varied. As far as I'm concerned, however, I'll take a couple scoops of well-made vanilla or strawberry anytime.
Beyond containing the three Neapolitan flavors, the themers share a subtler connection. Tom Cruise also starred in a movie called Days of THUNDER. Darryl is also the first name of former Mets and Yankees star STRAWBERRY. And Amy Adams recently starred in a sci-fi movie called Arrival, which featured massive alien ships hovering in the SKY.
9
My personal best - 10:36. Getting better, gradually. This one seemed easier than most, even for a Monday, but it's a nice confidence booster at least.
Not sure how I got VANILLASKY, but I just knew it, and I never even saw that movie. I have seen a ton of Tom Cruise movies, just not that one. Wouldn't have gotten STRAWBERRYBLONDE easily, I thought they were more redheads, but the vertical answers gave it away.
3
When I have a cold, my voice is the exact opposite of NASAL. It's denasalized. Am I crazy?
1
@FrankieHeck If you have to ask . . . .
1
FrankieHeck,
No, you're not crazy, but you may have been taken in by the definition: A NASAL voice results from *not* being able to breathe (well) through your nose.
@Barry Ancona I have a degree in speech pathology, and I feel sure my professors consistently used the term "nasal" only to refer to a hypernasal voice. But the internet has just taught me that both hyper- and hyponasal voice qualities can be described as nasal. Huh. I live and I learn.
3
17A! Shout-out to our country correspondents in Boone, West Branch, Solon...
1
Indeed! That was as gimme as gimme ever gets, Barry, even for a Monday. The 2020 candidates have already begun to descend, with Elizabeth Warren making appearances in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City yesterday to enthusiastic receptions. She may have passed Cory Booker in the airport, who was here last week holding a series of small house parties across the state. The Silly Season has officially begun. Where will it end?
2
Julia and Barry,
I used to be something of a political junkie, but the "silly season" referenced in the puzzle and Julia's post finally got to me. I can no longer bring myself to care because it has become essentially non-stop, pandering, and, well, silly. It jaded me, and I loathe to admit that because I pride myself on critical thinking and removing emotion as much as possible from my thought process.
Shout out to you too Barry as I know you spent many years working in our lovely state!
2
@ Barry Ancona
West Branch, Iowa, is a “do not miss” stop in Iowa.
A solid abolitionist Quaker stronghold prior to the Civil War, it was the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, the first U.S. president born west of the Mississippi. Orphaned at nine, Hoover moved to Oregon at eleven to live with an uncle.
An admittedly hagiographic museum devoted to Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover, transformed my view of them: Stanford graduates — both of them — of geology (or mining,) overseas residents and travellers prior to political life, Chinese speaker (Mrs. Hoover), White House hostess (Mrs. Hoover) of African-American Jessie De Priest in 1929 (a controversial move at the time,) and more.
I’m not a historian, but I was surprised my traditional view of Hoover as the inattentive cause of the Depression was so deficient. Both President and Mrs. Hoover had many admirable strengths.
2
Cosy enjoyable puzzle, bringing childhood memories like eating all the strawberry part of the Neapolitan ice cream box first. Maybe because of this regression I had a vivid vision of an eel with a ready made wig (PREFAB/EEL/MANE). So many ways to have fun solving....
Two books with NEAPOLITAN characters I love: Elena Ferranti’s My Brilliant Friend and subsequent volumes (TV adaptation not released in the UK yet, I think?); and Barbara Paul ‘s Prima Donna at Large, an entertaining detective story based on the Metropolitan Opera in the pre war period, narrated by the real life soprano Geraldine Farrar and including Neapolitan characters, the great Caruso, the conductor Toscanini and others. A little gem.
6
@Laura Rodrigues in London
That TV adaptation is marvelous -- don't miss it.
2
The clues for 52A and 49D, whose answers cross, could almost be switched and still make sense.
I'm off to make myself a root beer float using chocolate ice cream (better than with vanilla, IMO).
9
I discovered the tastiness of mint chocolate chip with 7-up way back in high school days. Might have to try your recommendation!
Well, I have to say that I just said "Neopolitan ice cream" five times fast and it was much easier than any of yesterday's theme answers.
10
Tastier, too.
(Vanilla soda with chocolate flake mint ice cream at The Almond Tree, run by the Mandelbaums, of course.)
2
@Lewis
Could lead to brain freeze.
@Barry Ancona
Here's to mint chocolate chip!
1
Cute and (too) quick.
By an amazing coincidence, just a couple of hours ago, I was telling my wife about Darryl Dawkins because he was mentioned in a story in today’s Boston Globe by Bob Ryan who was hoping that a new PHI-BOS rivalry might be brewing in the NBA east. He was reminiscing about the one from the 80s and recounted that one year in the early-to-mid 80s the Celtics had come back from a 3-1 deficit in the eastern final and were playing game 7 in Boston. When it became clear that the Sixers were going to win, some Celtics fans started chanting “Beat LA” , which began a long-standing tradition. (The Celtics also had an on-going rivalry with the Lakers at that time.) When he was asked if he had heard the chants after the game, DD said he had and Bob Ryan said he couldn’t print the rest of his comment. A Google search will fill you in if you’re interested. Anyway, I also told my wife his Chocolate Thunder nickname, so needless today that was a gimme for me.
7
Alas, he and other NBA centers gone way too soon.
2
As a child, my favorite was always STRAWBERRY. Then I discovered other flavors and moved away from the basics. But an excellent VANILLA, STRAWBERRY, or CHOCOLATE is always a good thing.
Nice Monday start!
7
@Liz B
Mine was vanilla. Strawberry always was the last ne to be consumed.
1
@Paul Chocolate first, strawberry last for me.
My parents bought NEAPOLITAN all the time; I wonder if that was just a common thing back then. I don't think I've ever bought any.
1
@Rich in Atlanta
Well, freezers used to be smaller, and NEAPOLITAN allowed you to have multiple flavors in one box. These days it's easy enough to fit two container of ice cream in the freezer if you want two different flavors.
My mother's family would buy one quart of ice cream on a Saturday and then eat the whole thing that day (four kids) because they had only a tiny freezer compartment in the fridge. I think they just bought vanilla, though. My granny's trick was to turn vanilla ice cream into coffee by stirring in a spoonful of instant coffee granules. It's actually quite good!
3
As puzzles go, pretty plain VANILLA for this one. Lots of crosswordese.
@Brian
Fair enough. Let me know what fill was the most "blah" (blahest?), and I take all feedback into consideration when I construct later.
7
@Howard Barkin,
I just want to say that I think it's always a bonus for us Wordplayers when constructors reply to our comments and take them into consideration. Your replies get recos from me. Thanks!
5
@Henry Su
Thanks Henry. While it's certainly fun to create these, the goal is to entertain and divert those of you solving. Without that, what's the point? It's good to hear all feedback.
3
Deb writes:
11A: A clue in brackets, like “[Guests must provide their own drinks],” suggests an answer that might be nonverbal.
I add:
50D: A clue in brackets, like "[I don't know the words to this part}," may *also* suggest an answer that *is* verbal but might not be a word or words.
2
@Barry
Napoli, signore?
This one by Mr. Barkin starts the week with a BIG BANG. No, that wasn't the CHOCOLATE THUNDER you heard. I loved NEAPOLITAN ice cream in days of YORE when I was young (well, I suppose I still do - eat it quickly before it THAWs...melts). I saw the long acrosses and went LA LA LA as I skipped through them, but the puzzle solved smooth as SILK on the down pass. A few minutes later, it was over. I was SO SAD (BOO!) when it was all over. I found it very appropriate that my last letter was the second R in TIMER ENDER.
7
Perfect Monday degree of difficulty with a cute theme/revealer....
7
Back in the streak saddle. Seems like just yesterday that Darryl Dawkins was a young phenom starting out with the Philadelphia 76ers, one of the most agile big men of his day and the first player to enter the NBA straight from high school. He was a thunderous, backboard-shattering player who gave himself some great nicknames. Besides CHOCOLATE THUNDER, he was Dr. Dunkenstein and Sir Slam. Nice to see him in the puzzle.
7
@Puzzlemucker
On is answerinmg machine, he had the message, "This the Dawk, go ahead and talk."
5
@Puzzlemucker
My memory suggested Moses Malone as the first to go from HS to the pros. Checking: Wikipedia says that he was drafted into the ABA in 1974 while Dawkins went to the NBA in the 1975 draft. Looks like we both recollect rightly. Great to be reminded of both of these giants of the game.
@Al in Pittsburgh and @Puzzlemucker,
As a member of Puzzlemucker's PPS, I was about to make the same comment. I don't know all that much about the NBA (or the ABA) but I'm from SE Virginia and I do remember Moses Malone from Petersburg High and his going straight to the pros. Thanks for clarifying my memory on this. It's sad to read that both Malone and Dawkins have since passed away.