So much fun and so clever!!! Thank you!
It took me a few tricky clues to figure out the theme, and then it was game on! Great fun to solve -- bravo to Tom Pepper!
Haven't had time yet to read the 215 (!) comments, but I wanted to get in a comment before the 10:00 practical deadline.
I loved having this level of sillly wordplay on a Tuesday. It was jolly fun, and more than I expect from an early-week puzzle. Thank you Tom. Thank you Will and company.
Now I have to go back and read the comments. (Plus, there are a couple of the bonuses in the constructor notes that I haven't figured out yet. I know the states, but not, e.g., the name for 100-meter dash.)
1
I got an Almost There with Nippy instead of Zippy. In fairness I did have one (Irish) eyebrow raised quite high at thought of doofus being Bono!
3
In honor of Honest Abe Lincoln’s birthday:
Alexandria Ocaso-Cortez in the Prairie Stare? (9), or
His opposite in the Golden State (think the rear of a feline)? (7)
Answers below:
ILLIBERAL
CATRUMP
5
Was there a community decision made not to talk about the Letter Boxed in the comments on this thread? Excited to find a 13-letter perfect 2-word solution today, but since I've been gone for a week and no-one is posting about it today am worried it is now verboten or frowned upon.
1
Please add it! I am struggling. Three words and stuck!
@Kevin Y-G (5), G-S (8). It actually makes sense as a phrase - if you want to frame it that way
(If the NYT had a different answer, I'll try to remember to post mine on the blog tomorrow).
Count me out. International solver here. How could this be a Tuesday? Even after looking up the names of the states it was close to impossible to solve for me. Those play on words... Oh well.
4
I have two nits to pick with the clues. 5-across isn’t really a variety of tea; it’s the derivative of the Cantonese word for “tea.” And 36-Down isn’t a type of fitness class; it’s a type of integral meditative practice.
I’m fond of both, therefore I’m willing to take issue with the clues.
1
@Barbara Prillaman
In the US, "chai" (which is just the Hindi word for tea) has come to mean black tea with cardamom and other spices, in the Indian style. We have Starbucks to thank for this. But in fact, my Indian and Pakistani friends serve chai this way by default. If I'm not in the mood for milky, spicy tea, I ask for "nimbu chai" (tea with lemon).
3
RICES Another comment. There is a wonderful story on Reddit about Harrison Ford’s son, who is a chef, inventing cauliflower rice. He was looking for an accompaniment to a lamb dish and put the cauliflower in a blender, seasoned it and created.......cauliflower COUSCOUS. That is what he called it on the menu. Which causes me to jump to the conclusion that cauliflower rice is totally different from riced cauliflower. The “rice” idea comes from the fact that the stuff looks vaguely like rice or even couscous. It does not refer to the technique used to create it. If it did it would be named blenderized cauliflower.
3
and Elke
Sort of stuck inside, we have a "snow event" *, and much of traffic is slowed ; thus time to enjoy more of the puzzle and the comments, and add to them.
Noticed the oodles of 'oo's' in the puzzle (-SHROOMS, VAMOOSE, LOONS , HOOT ,LOO a.s.o.. and several Canadianas :LOONS, ICE, AHL (really the A/CHL), END (curling), TOROnto (thanks,Andrew).
So I will add to the CAN(adian)OODLES by pointing out that today the GOOgle DOOdle commemorates the 65th anniversary of Jacques Plante's signing with the Habs of the NHL.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Plante
He was quite an innovator.
*more than a foot (30cm ) and it's NOT melting fast !
2
I've been solving and lurking for a while, and after being a bit annoyed at the encroachment of comments about Spelling Bee I decided to try it out. I've been hitting Genius level nearly every time, but today I got QB for the first time, with my final entry being the simplest word of all. Those little rewards that keep you addicted.
I reported not long ago that the Timer had disappeared from my Across Lite. Someone here gave me instructions for restoring it - my guru (cum s-i-l) was going to come and fix it, but today it reappeared as mysteriously as it had disappeared.
A good day.
1
@Viv
Next time, I can tell you how to make it reappear.
(It goes missing when you change the screen resolution with a puzzle open. Doing something like switching your computer to use a projector or opening certain apps that need a different screen size will do it.)
And I'm with you on QB. My last word is almost always a four-letter one.
@Martin
When I check the 'Yesterday' Bee to find out what I missed, my last word is ALWAYS a four-letter one.
5
@Viv Just good to see you back, Viv.
Would it be ok if I tried a 'Hi Viv' again on Saturday? I know I failed miserably after a while, but I'll try to do better.
https://www.greengiant.com/giant-knowledge/riced-veggies/
No potatoes here.
Yes there is, Sweet.
JGGiant must have had a shipment of kohl rabi foisted off on them, as I can think of no good reason elsewise.
As for the riced risotto, isn't that like the bald man's depilatory?
2
Knives at twenty paces?
2
@Barry A,
I would never pull a knife on Martin, even at twenty places.
Clever puzzle. I thought I had the right answer for 'Pasta from the Golden State' when I entered RICEARONI. After all, it's the San Francisco treat...
5
Me too!
1
Obviously no cooks were involved in the clues! Ricing is NOT chopping finely. That's mincing. Ricing is putting a food through a sieve using pressure. There's a tool called a potato ricer.
8
@SalomeEllen
At least one avid cook, who would never mash potatoes without first ricing them, was fine with the clue.
Ricing is reducing to rice-sized particles. Although potatoes are riced with a ricer, that's not the only thing, or mechanism, that the term covers.
https://www.wholefoodbellies.com/what-is-riced-broccoli/
https://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-cauliflower-rice/
1
(1D) Mewl? Anybody... anybody... Bueller?
2
@Moose what's your question?
1
@Moose
MEWLing is puling without spitting up. Sort of a grizzling, whining tearfulness. See Shakespeare.
3
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms ...
3
Forgot to add that I tried the 7 Bonus Round themers offered in Tom Pepper’s notes, but without crosses to help I didn’t get far. Anybody else dove those? I’d love to see the solutions to those at some point.
2
@Shari Coats
My bonus round answers (in the order listed)
MAscots
MIsprint
SCrambler
PAtrolling
FLuttering
ALlocation
INcarnation
10
@Judi
I am so glad you posted these.
1
I too thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle today. Challenging enough for a Tuesday and smile-inducing.
1
@Debie
International solvers had to rest on crossings, I guess. I was solving with a friend who grew up in the US but left decades age and so had a vague idea and this probably made it harder: is the sunny state Florida or California? Flanoodles or Canoodles..... great fun!
What states are called- lovely paragraph from Jane Austen’ Emma:
"When you have seen more of this country, I am afraid you will think you have over-rated Hartfield. Surry is full of beauties."
"Oh! yes, I am quite aware of that. It is the garden of England, you know. Surry is the garden of England."
"Yes; but we must not rest our claims on that distinction. Many counties, I believe, are called the garden of England, as well as Surry."
"No, I fancy not," replied Mrs. Elton, with a most satisfied smile. "I never heard any county but Surry called so."
2
Definitely a fun one. Can’t believe I momentarily got tripped up on the Evergreen State. VE is the Green Mountain State! Thus its name.
1
@John Wagner
VT is the Green Mountain State.
Out, out, (DE)BRIEF CANOODLE!
4
ARIZONA LICENSE PLATES SHOW "GRAND CANYON STATE" AS THEIR NICKNAME!
(NEW MEXICO'S NICKNAME IS "LAND OF ENCHANTMENT')
DOES ARIZONA HAVE A NEW OFFICIALNICKNAME ?
PLEASE ADVISE.
THANKS AND REGARDS
Bill:
WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?
If at 49A, that AR is for Arkansas. Arizona is AZ.
8
And I suspect some states have more than one nickname..,
4
@Mid America
True, but Arizona is not the “Land of Opportunity,” which I believe is Bill’s ALL CAPS beef. Many of us in the Northeast and elsewhere might disagree with that, as Phoenix is supposed to be 70F today. I suspect that Bill may have been working in cahoots with @Mean Old Lady to prove her point about being mistaken as an AriZonan based on her ARkansas postal code.
2
I nominate this as the best NYT Tuesday puzzle of 2019, As an early-week puzzle, I found very USEFUL for brain stimulation or, in keeping with the theme, the opposite of:
An American alphabet missing the most commonly used English letter? (7)
7
Miss Thistlebottom, who is no wallflower, would say that "act" takes an adjective instead of an adverb.
1
@Etaoin Shrdlu Ah, but what if a wallflower were cast in the school play? How would she act?
@Diana
She wouldn't emote, in any case.
Today was so much fun! A rare day where I didn’t have to look anything up in Wikipedia, Google Maps, the dictionary or thesaurus. (I’ve learned that YSER and ETNA are crossword-ese but don’t have them stored in my memory bank yet.) The theme didn’t emerge until my second pass but once I caught on I was thoroughly amused.
My one sticking point: as a yoga instructor I almost never think to enter YOGA (or in the case of last week, CHAIR YOGA) when the clue references fitness. I know that many of people take yoga classes for the fitness benefits, but it’s not an intuitive connection for me. I think it’s in part because ASANA(S) tends to be clued more creatively so the aha moments are much more satisfying. Today it was more like,“Oh, they mean yoga? Alright, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”
5
@Denice - It all depends on your definition of "fitness" in the end. I wonder what Lewis (who is both yoga instructor and puzzle constructor) thinks about this one?
1
@David Connell
As a clue for YOGA, [Popular fitness] class seems fine to me, as many take yoga strictly for fitness aspects, as Denice points out, and Tuesday in general doesn't call for creative cluing. Later in the week, the cluing may become more creative; one Friday, Patrick Berry clued YOGA [Class with a flexible schedule?].
But yoga can bring many physical and inner benefits aside from fitness, and to many who practice it (Denice being one, I suspect, and I another) those benefits are the best part, and to these people, IMO, clues that give the impression that fitness is yoga's main purpose -- like today's, accurate as it is -- feel off the mark, or, as Denice says, "...it's not an intuitive connection".
3
@Denice
I initially entered SPIN instead of YOGA. Fixed it this time much more quickly than with that darn CHAIRYOGA though!
2
OMG this was fun! From (WA)SHROOMS to (CA)NOODLES. Every single themer was perfectly clever. I am so happy that Jeff Chen gave this his POW!
I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Tom Pepper, but we have emailed, and I can tell you there's nobody nicer anywhere. And he happens to live in Edina, MN, where I grew up. No wonder he knows about snow FORTS!
Tom, who knew you are such a (CO)MEDIAN?! Thank you for bringing happiness to so many solvers today!
20
@Johanna
You got me thinking. If you live in Minnesota, does MNemonic help you remember your postal abbreviation?
9
How do I love this puzzle? Let me count the ways. First the theme -- made crunchier [for me] by the fact I don't know a large number of state nicknames. Also made witty and amusing by such lovely results as DEBRIEFS and CANOODLES and VAMOOSE. And even where the final answer isn't a funny word, as in WASHROOMS, the word 'SHROOMS is funny. So this aspect of the puzzle is delightful.
Then, the wonderful cluing. Because 1A wasn't clued "Things you sweep with." And 14A wasn't clued "____Knox". And 34A wasn't clued "Summer month". And 66A wasn't clued "Begin". This is the way it's done, folks. Even early in the week.
I had the most trouble with "Defense in a snowball fight". I had F--- and all I could think of was FIST, though I thought it would be a lot more effective to put up the entire HAND. You see, I've never had such an elaborate snowball fight. You build an entire FORT??? Good heavens! I wouldn't know where to begin.
11
@Nancy
lol, Nancy! How to build a fort? First, you put up a wall!
During my childhood in the Pleistocene Period, everybody walked to school as a matter of course. And, between home and the grade school, there were a number of God's gift to school children, the now defunct Vacant Lot. Some were poor things, flat and barren, with barely a stick and a rock to to their name, but some had ridges and gullies, falldowns and shrubbery. Many an afternoon battle, in snowy weather and not, took place with the excuse of a search for buried treasure!
And they all started by building a wall.
11
@Leapfinger - so strange that my earliest childhood memories, many of them, also center on a vacant lot passed on the way to kindergarten/first grade, which in my mind's eye is either full of dandelions in bloom or full of snow.
When I was 8 or 9, we had a very snowy winter, and built an entire complex of forts, with tunnels and walls, crenellations and redoubts. When every family in every house had four to seven children, this sort of thing was inevitable. I don't envy today's single children, two's enough. Crowds of kids, no adult supervision, that was the formula for fun, in any season.
9
@David Connell
Your posts today have me visualizing you as a kid jumping around a complex of snow forts on a POGO stick. A sure recipe for disaster!
2
Whassamatta you kitchen all-thumbers?
'Chopping finely' is mincing, *maybe* dicing. If you RICE something, you're ensmalling it by forcing it through small holes in some sort of sieving contraption.
Didn't see anyone else mention this -- my only harrumph-- and since I'm gonna be late for work wanted to unburden myself a la FactBoy.
Be back later to tell how much I enjoyed everything else!
29
@Leapfinger
I did the be-bop tango step for step; mince to the right, dice to the left, a chop step forward and then, at long last, commenced with the tossing of RICES...A throwback to my executive chef days, (some picky-uni execs threw some creations back at me) I am still ARMED with a full contingent of digits; though both thumbs endured a shaving here and there.
4
Agree that ricing is not chopping finely. It is an altogether different technique.
7
@Leapy - as one of the Kitcheners, I have to admit that "rice" was so far off the mark that I considered it, truly, beneath my dignity to comment on. Until you challenged my dignity just now...hee hee.
Add, stir, mix, fold - to a crossword puzzle editor, these words are interchangeable.
Dice, cube, mince, rice, chop, cut, chunk - to a crossword puzzle editor, interchangeable.
Nobody who understands cooking considers them synonyms!
cue Mrs. Patmore
10
Say what? As a dyed in the wool choco-holic, mine eyes automatically transcribe 29d as e-chocolate...NE presented the tiniest of speed bumps. But that problem was summarily dispensed with; thanks crosses...I must direct s’more gratitude, to the staff for a neatly themed ZIPPY puzzle. It was all that, from START to END...I have to VAMOOSE for another scheduled course of ‘roid injections...DISCO music? I PASS! This is a bluesy, folky twofer from Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and John Prine; both journeymen are LITE YEARs ahead of the mellifluous, musical curve. Have AT IT.
Buckeye water source:
https://youtu.be/3yU4JOB5Hhg
Heavy relationship advice from a Gulf State counselor:
https://youtu.be/b2ccC4aULow
No TORO,
Bru
5
@brutus
E-chocolate is nowhere as tasty as the real thing. My motto is, "If it's not chocolate, it's not dessert."
Loved early Fleetwood Mac. Too bad Peter Green lost his mind. Saw them several times in the 60s at a club near Fenway Park called The Ark.
3
@brutus
Admittedly, the former is a gimme. The latter, fwiw, is the dear FLabby. I am what I am and I ain’t what I ain’t. {;-)
A fun theme. My only quibble is that I wanted the answer to 6D (Hilarious type) to be COMIC SANS -- but that just wouldn't fit.
6
Great puzzle. Had me scratching my head and changing quite a few answers, but not needing to ask for help. Also exposed another gap in my knowledge, so now I'm having some coffee and trying to commit a few state nicknames to memory. Fun!
3
What a neat idea! Amazing!
4
A Martian in the Empire State?
(Is that a No?)
6
Wishing I had a TORO this am, sniffed Tom snowbound.
It is I as opposed to ITSME or itsamemario slowed me down.
17A made coffee come out my nose. I see a mini potty theme here with 17A, 26A, 35D, etc.
Nearing closure on the Mississippi manse. I will boar any FB friends with before an after photos. Perhaps I will take my "No one is Welcome Here" sign with me. You can take the curmudgeon out of the cold but not the cold out of...
Thanks Tom
4
What fun! Like Rich, I was mistaken about 26A (DELAWEAR)but after I got 17A and 29A the rest of the puzzle was all chuckles. Thanks, Mr Pepper, for putting me in good humor this morning--CANOODLES, VAMOOSE, COMEDIAN . . . very clever, and amusing. One quibble with 15A: I'm a former chef who's never heard of ricing as knife work. I've only ever riced potatoes by passing them through an old-fashioned ricer. Anyway, thanks again.
5
What did Della wear? Her new jersey!
1
I received the "not quite" prompt upon completion today. After numerous flyspecks, (is that the correct term?), I was considering writing one of those "something is wrong with my NYT app" posts. Thankfully I resisted the temptation and finally it dawned on me. ARBITER rather than ORBITER. It should have been a head slap, but to explain, I already had ORBITER (I figured there must be lots of Opportunity in Oregon), and I had mistakenly entered JUNE instead of JULY at 34A. Of course EOGO was absolute gibberish so when that became YOGO it made so much more sense to me, and after CHAIR YOGA the other day I figured that YOGO must be some energetic branch of YOGA. So I thought no more about it.
My Canadian job is done with the clue for 47A. Of course 46A could have been "Four leading characters of Toronto".
Hunkering down here for 40 cm. of snow....
7
Andrew,
You're lucky to not get the snow in inches...
2
@Barry Ancona
True! We used to get it in inches, but now it seems much more daunting in centimetres!
3
40 is a big number in either system when it’s snow!
1
I loved this puzzle! Not only because I solved it without any help from Deb, but because it was so clever. Definitely made me smile.
8
A plea from an Italian: please don't use NOODLE as a synonym for pasta. Noodles are flat, ribbon shaped things that can be made of wheat, rice, legumes, and other things. Pasta is made from Durham Wheat (and sometimes additional things like spinach, carrot, etc).
Loved the puzzle! Fun, clever themers and great fill. Thanks Tom and Will!
1
@Steve Faiella
I'll noodle it over and get back to you.
3
Steve,
Durham wheat is used only in the Province of North Carolina.
8
@Barry Ancona
Yes, I believe the wheat in question, (by today's defining standards), would be "Liquor from an Arab Emirate" (5).
1
SCREENSHOT made me laugh out loud, as I have sent countless screenshots in my ongoing (months long!) conversation with NYT tech support, including a fresh batch just yesterday.
But the puzzle was a good one, though it took me a bit to catch on. Lewis already noted the double Os and several fun -O words. I'd add DISCO to that list, and the clue for LOO entertained me royally.
3
My SCREENSHOTS are going to NYT billing for double billing. Finally went in today, canceled auto payments and set up a different way.
Wish me luck.
Btw, loved today’s puzzle. A perfect Tuesday!
2
A terrific Tuesday by TOM terrific. Smile inducing all the way through.
1
I hadn't noted the theme when I filled in 17A so just put in MUSHROOMS. After realising the theme on DEBRIEFS, I went back and showed my lack of state knowledge by changing the U to an A. I knew MASHROOMS wasn't quite right (what on earth would that even be?!) but I left it as I wasn't getting 1D easily.
My other trip up was the SE corner. I had to look up a ballet bend (TIL "Plie") and I was looking for a specific type of pasta. Otherwise, a very enjoyable Tuesday. A few minutes off my best, but also a few below my average.
1
This has to be the first (and likely last) time that I ever filled in a puzzle smoothly, section by section, top to bottom. On early week puzzles I almost always go through all the across clues and then the downs, but for some reason today I started checking down crosses early on and it all just worked out that way. Probably would have been a bit faster if I actually remembered all the state nicknames
As I mentioned in a reply below, I was briefly misled by WASH in 17a and tried DELAWEAR at 26a, but that didn't last long. Cute and clever puzzle and it definitely brought a smile to my face.
Deb, in regard to WELCOMEMATs: You're a crossword person. Here's a suggestion for what to put on your mat:
Type of wagon?
4
@Rich in Atlanta
Oh what did Del-a-ware boy, what did Delaware
What did Del-a-ware boy, what did Delaware
She wore a brand New Jersey,
She wore a brand New Jersey,
She wore a brand New Jersey,
That's what she did wear
Perry Como
1
@JoHarp And that just sent me sideways to Perry Mason and Della Street....
@RiA, so sorry. My first thought went straight to CONESTOGA, and that railroaded any possibility I could think of anything else.
Help?
That was amazing! It did take me a while to get exactly how it worked. Unfortunately the first one never did make sense to me until I came to Wordplay as I'm unfamiliar with 'shrooms. Also I've never really learned the state post codes except for the few I write to. For me Massachusetts is still Mass.
However, once I got DEBRIEF, most of the others came to me fairly quickly with a couple of strategic crosses, all bringing a smile or a LOL. What more can one ask for?
7
We frequently have people look at our AR address and ask, "How do you like it in Arizona?" Similarly, we get mail with AK in the city/state line. And just to update everyone, ARkansas has long since changed its nickname to 'The Natural State.' In the 60's GA was still 'The Empire State of the South,' well before it might have fit. I think that one changed, too.
Just now we are The Underwater State.
3
We know it's Flyover Country, but AR didn 't even get onto the list of themers....
@Mean Old Lady
Onionlike herbs from The Natural State? (8)
@Mean Old Lady
Check out 49A.
With seven theme answers, lovely long downs, BOZO/POGO/TORO, and a mini-theme of double O's (6), this was a ZIPPY smile-producing gem. Tom, you can sprinkle some Pepper on my Tuesdays anytime!
6
Speaking of gems, what do you call an object from the Gem State?
2
@Lewis
Love it. I don't want to spoil it for others. Suffice it to say it might be the subject of a crisis.
3
SPELLING BEE Grid
23/92, 1 Pangram
∑ 4 5 6 7 8 9
C 4 3 - - 1 - -
E 2 - - 1 - - 1
F 9 3 3 2 1 - -
L 3 3 - - - - -
N 1 1 - - - - -
U 3 - 1 1 1 - -
Y 1 1 - - - - -
∑ 23 11 4 4 3 - 1
17
@Evan
From yesterday: analemma and annal are both words!
4
@Evan
Thanks for the grid!
Quick SB today, but I can't wrap my mind around the exclusion of a common sailing term and an Xray finding, while the Beekeeper accepts an unfamiliar biological term that seems to be much more common in French.
2
@Chungclan.
Ditto! LUFF should really make the list by now. Guess the Keeper is partial to geometry. I had no idea what the accepted word meant in English when I tried it (it faded from memory long ago), but when you are left with three missing four letter words at three am (snoring snuffaluphagus spouse), you will try anything! Then you have to look up the definition.
Such FECULENCE! No, I wasn’t surprised or upset at its omission. Just an example of how using roots as the basis for solving yields words in so many forms, common and not so much. In fact, I appreciated the short set very much.
4
Hi Deb,
"And I will bet
A silk pajama
There isn't any
Three-l lllama."
Ah, but there is.
To get the answer, solve this Monday puzzle (47A):
https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/daily/2006/11/13
Or just go to the answer here:
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=11/13/2006
1
@Henry Su
I don’t get it. Can you explain?
That would be a 3 alarmer fire. (3 fire trucks called out)
@Doug (and @ Henry Su)
SPOILER ALERT IF YOU WANT TO SOLVE THE LINKED PUZZLE:
20A. Dalai Lama
36A Llama
47A. “Three L Ama” (Brooklynese for “Three Alarmer” I suppose, though it sounds more like a Boston accent to me)
This was a ZIPPY puzzle from the START -- perfect for a Tuesday. I also appreciated the first appearance of ECHOLOCATE in a regular crossword. Thanks, Mr. Pepper.
In an effort to be more inclusive, I humbly offer a bonus round for our fellow Canadian solvers:
"By yourself in the Sunshine Province?" (7)
"No clouds in the Land of the Midnight Sun" (7)
"Charged particles said to be Yours to Discover?" (6)
"Tired and sore on Spud Island?" ((6)
"A team's turn at bat in the Wheat Province?" (8)
1
@Henry Su
Thanks for the challenge! But I'm starting to wonder if it is one of those Alice in Wonderland style riddles that has no answer. Is there really a Sunshine Province in this country? If so, I can't imagine which one. Land of the Midnight Sun makes me think of Scandinavia more than Canada, but I will consider our Northern territories for that one. Yours to Discover is definitely ONtario, so I am thinking IONIZED for that one, but it can't be right. Spud Island and Wheat Province are fairly obvious but I can't come up with any good guesses yet. Please no hints yet, but I will persevere.
1
DOH! Well I realized that I don't really know Canadian postal abbreviations. I also was not using the theme logic here for some reason. I got the first three, and I am sure that the other two will come quickly. Thanks Henry for your nod to the North!
1
@Andrew,
I won't spoil it for you. It goes without saying, however, that I had to rely on some sources (aka Wikipedia) for province nicknames, which may not be entirely accurate. Hopefully, all of these work.
1
Thank you, Tom, for this peppery puzzle that sure peps up my day. You did have me laugh out loud at one answer, but I'd have to go back to check which one it was. I relished today's offering, every bit of it. Deb, I qualify as an international solver, but no worries; as the theme answers are real words, one guesses them. (On a cryptic crossword, the cluemaker has to provide the definition, which is not available here, of course.)
3
@Anjali
Found it! British throne? That was so funny! :D
3
Wonderfully silly. Loved it. CAnoodles was my favorite theme entry, but they were all worthy and got big smiles.
7
@Beejay,
Me too for CANOODLES
1
I’ve lived in Virginia. I’d be surprised if there are any moose there. The largest animal I ever found in the Blue Ridge Mountains was a cow.
1
and Elke
Considering that Washington State in the last three days got as much snow as would be normal for the whole winter, it is much less "Evergreen" than "White" right now.
So I suggest as a portmanteau SNOW WHITE .
As a result the State also has had frequent power failures , and so an increase in CANOODLES may result in an increase in population later this YEAR...
(P.S. Snow has more than one meaning...)
Real ZIPPY puzzle , TOM !
4
oh this was fun! very cute and had me smiling all the way through ~
2
Crafty themers and great long fill make Tom Pepper's offering about as entertaining as an early-week puzzle gets. No quibbles from me about the short fill; it is Tuesday after all. Looked askance at the entry for 15a, which seems more like dICES than RICES. But I agree with Jeff Chen's POW assessment.
Nice work, Tom. I know you're proud too, since you signed your work at 54a.
4
Ricing has nothing to do with chopping or knives. It's pressing something through a sieve. Just google "ricer" and see for yourself. I think they probably had "dices" there earlier and forgot to change the clue.
10
Jake,
Some of us have "ricers," but the definition does not require using one (and it could very well be done by chopping with a knife).
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/rice
1
@Jake Jortles Love this handle! I giggle frequently thinking of the scene from 'The Good Place' from whence it comes. Jason is one of my favorite characters on TV.
1
Hi Deb,
A WELCOME MAT is absolutely a "Sign of hospitality." (30D)
Your sister has a doormat.
17
@Barry Ancona
Good point! I agree on that one.
OT from Monday re: Soft Serve
Deadline is correct, Steve. They all have the same ingredients, but "soft serve" has only 3-6% butterfat content, and the FDA won't let you call something "ice cream" with less that 10%. Even many Breyers flavors today are "frozen dairy desserts."
3
@Barry Ancona
And yet it happens:
https://www.carvel.com/ice-cream/soft-serve
https://mistersoftee.com
We know what the FDA says. What does the dictionary say?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soft%20serve
Not that simple.
@Steve L
I remember when Carvels appeared on the scene when I was a kid, and the pictures on that website you put up made me wonder if there was one near by. Alas, only the NY area.
Steve,
The question yesterday was *not* whether soft serve could be clued as ice cream in a puzzle; we all understand that if it's in a dictionary, right or wrong it can appear.
Deadline was discussing real life, and *her* finding soft serve wanting as ice cream is likely for the same reason the FDA doesn't let the product be called ice cream.
N.B. Breyers talks about "ice cream" all over its website, but the cartons with less than 10% butterfat content don't use the words.
Easy peasy, but a fun puzzle that made me laugh. Loved 17 across.
I can't believe Deb didn't go to Monty Python for más información acerca de las llamas...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBaUmx5s6iE
19A should have a spoiler alert (^_^;)
Maybe it was just yesterday's chocolate discussions, but when I reviewed the puzzle I read 29D as a kind of internet age flavoring: E-chocolate.
To a plant lover, Acer will always be a maple tree; but I'm willing to accept a non-possum Pogo, since I was a dedicated pogo-sticker in my youth.
5
@David Connell
Even by Monty Python standards, this is one of the silliest skits ever imagined. Thank goodness for the man with the tape recorder up his nose!
@David Connell
Also kept misreading 29D as having to do with my favorite flavor.
ACER, however, is the name of my monitor.
Very fun Tuesday. Pretty easy. Pretty clever theme entries and entertaining clues to boot.
Bonus - couldn't get them all:
Bay State - MASCOT
Wolverine State - MISPRINT
Palmetto State - ?
Quaker State - PATROLLING
Sunshine State - FLUTTERING
Heart of Dixie - ?
Hoosier State - INCARNATION
6
Just realized maybe posting those constitutes spoilers. Sorry if that's the case!
@Wen,
Hint on Palmetto State -- you might use this with data or a message
2
@Wen,
Hint on Heart of Dixie -- you might do this when serving a dish to your many guests
2
Entertaining theme. I also liked mewl and gamut, neither of which seems overworked.
4
This was great fun. Made me laugh. (I've been trying to pull together tax numbers today, so I needed a laugh!)
I have to say I'm not doing so well with most of the extra bonus round ones, though. I'll have to sleep on them overnight and see what happens.
1
@Liz B
I’ve gotten a few but “Any place in the Heart of Dixie” will have to wait for my Thursday brain to arrive.
Or someone revealing/hinting at the answer before then.
@Liz B
I'll have to go back to them when I have more time.
To 44-Down:
Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans
upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,
the emptiness of ages in his face,
and on his back the burden of the world.
Who made him dead to rapture and despair,
a thing that grieves not and that never hopes,
stolid and stunned, a brother to the ox?
Who loosened and let down this brutal jaw?
Whose was the hand that slanted back the brow?
Whose breath blew out the light within his brain?
Edwin Markham, The man with the hoe (1899), first strophe
23
Sure is great to start the day with an 'upper,' eh?
7
@Mean Old Lady. Your reply provided one! Love the poem, though. Dark, yes. But it packs a wallop.
Have not yet looked up meaning of “strophe”, which I’m sure I should know.
1
@Mean Old Lady
Hoe, hoe, hoe...
6
Tricky, starting with an entry which begins with both the postal code (WA) and the traditional abbreviation (WASH) of the state, leaving one to think about what was really going on.
7
Steve,
But ROOMS? The only vaguely psychedelic ROOM I can think of was not in Washington State:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR90gQ-SIaY
2
@Barry Ancona
I didn’t say equally valid. I did say you had to think a little more to see what was going on.
Like SUN/SOL the other day.
1
@Steve L
My initial thought with WASHROOMS was some sort of substitution theme MUSH -> WASH. It wasn't until I got a couple more that I recognized the postal abbreviation trick.
3
Bring on the MASCOTS!
With that Fab Four clue at 1A, you wouldn't be Sgt. Pepper, would you, Tom?
4
Once I put in MOPS, it was off to the races! Fun Tuesday puzzle.
Simply put, one of the most entertaining Tuesday puzzles in a long time!
19
@Liane totally agree!
MOP Top fondly brings back the Swinging Sixties! Now that's my hairdo!
2
@judy d. Your second sentence is a subtle one to get and hilarious once gotten. Not that the hairstyle is funny, of course, but that your observation is so true!
@judy d
The Beatles were hairstyle trendsetters for young men of the 1960s . . . and Baby Boomer women of the 2000s.
1
ZIPPY? Yes
NEATO? Yes
This one left me in a STATE of joy, wanting MOre!
11
@Puzzlemucker
Post hoc clues for MOre:
Musical note in the Big Sky Country?
Concerning the Treasury State?
1
@Puzzlemucker
Please consider the foregoing comment a MISPRINT and let me try again:
Musical note in the Show-Me State?
1