I wanted "Cisco" for the western name pronounced at the end. Every episode of the 50's Cisco Kid ended with "Oh, Cisco! Oh, Poncho!," followed by hilarious and pointless laughing.
My mileage seems to have varied. I found this one went pretty quickly.
Didn't start that way. Few gimmes: OFF-COLOR, LOAFERS, VOLTE-FACE ("about" being in the clue), METHOD, and SHANE, with a "mebbe" at UNFORCED, used so often in commentary about political campaigns.
But as soon as I got into the quote, it was smooth sailing. Lots of i/oFs, THEs, DEVELOP??, COn/m-something, something-OCRAts/cy, stuff like that. That gave me enough to get OTHER HALF, which led to GROUCHO, and MENCKEN and SOCIAL COMMENTATORS and everything else.
Thanks, EC&HR. This was timely, and needed. I'll try--I promise I'll try--to keep laughing.
Didn't start that way. Few gimmes: OFF-COLOR, LOAFERS, VOLTE-FACE ("about" being in the clue), METHOD, and SHANE, with a "mebbe" at UNFORCED, used so often in commentary about political campaigns.
But as soon as I got into the quote, it was smooth sailing. Lots of i/oFs, THEs, DEVELOP??, COn/m-something, something-OCRAts/cy, stuff like that. That gave me enough to get OTHER HALF, which led to GROUCHO, and MENCKEN and SOCIAL COMMENTATORS and everything else.
Thanks, EC&HR. This was timely, and needed. I'll try--I promise I'll try--to keep laughing.
1
I loved the misdirection about the five-letter billionaire with a huge TV following. At least we know that OPRAH is really a billionaire.
3
It's kind of silly to talk about Groucho's "ideas" as if he was a major philosopher - he was a gagman. Plenty of people have political opinions, including plumbers. As for commentators "like Mencken," that apostle of contempt - there were no others like Mencken.
1
Got started with LOAFERS, VOLTE-FACE, IMPERFECT, HOWARD, YOUNGMAN, and UNFORCED, but it was still slow going at first with a couple of periods of inactivity and musing. By making a couple of word guesses in the quote, I got OFF-COLOR, OTHER HALF and remembered SHANE (read so long ago). I thought it could be Groucho and Mencken, but was reluctant to commit until I saw Monkey Business in the title. A fine challenging quote. I loved the clue, idlers' shoes for LOAFERS!
I recently bought a tote bag, with that Groucho quote about the dog printed on it, at our local Friends of the Library book sale. Hilarious!
I recently bought a tote bag, with that Groucho quote about the dog printed on it, at our local Friends of the Library book sale. Hilarious!
1
I found this harder than usual. Only three gimmes: MOBSTER, OFFCOLOR and METHOD. Usually I need at least four answers to get going. LOAFERS came next. Then some lucky guesses. I enjoyed it.
2
This one was easier for me than usual. My gimmes were INMATE, OFF-COLOR, NOODLE, ABOUT-FACE (quickly changed to VOLTE-FACE), METHOD, YOUNGMAN, UNFORCED, SEXTET (eventually changed to SESTET), and SHANE. I was pretty sure about EDISON, but not enough to put it in to start with. Also BIBELOT was in that category.
GROUCHO and MENCKEN were almost the last words I put in, and of course nothing was really making sense until I had them. Lots of THEs and HISes and OFs, which mostly fell into place easily.
I had never heard of Simon Louvish. He is Israeli, born in Scotland, and the author of what looks like an interesting array of fiction and nonfiction, including several books on American film history.
GROUCHO and MENCKEN were almost the last words I put in, and of course nothing was really making sense until I had them. Lots of THEs and HISes and OFs, which mostly fell into place easily.
I had never heard of Simon Louvish. He is Israeli, born in Scotland, and the author of what looks like an interesting array of fiction and nonfiction, including several books on American film history.
1
Enough gimmes to get a decent start--SKETCH, HOWARD (the Three Stooges meet the Marx Brothers), METHOD, KITCHEN, YOUNGMAN, UNFORCED, and SHANE. I couldn't imagine what GR__CH_ could be for the longest time. About average for the solve time.
I had G_OU__O. At that point, I realized it had to be GROUCHO.
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H. L. Mencken, and GROUCHO, seem to have used a word I think I must omit here due to standards.
I was untroubled by the words 'DEFENSE OF FREEDOM' appearing out of context. The quotes often use ellipses, so the word 'reproductive' may have been a modifier of FREEDOM in the full quote.
Also, Acrostic grids lack punctuation. For all I knew mid-solve, DEFENSE may have been the last word of a clause. The next clause could have been, 'OF FREEDOM, he wrote that it was the only thing worth fighting for' (or any such inoffensive word chain).
Can DEFENSE OF FREEDOM be taken to an extreme? Yes.
But I very recently decided temporarily: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.".
Do I usually prefer moderation over 'extremism'? Yes.
But Atty General Kennedy said, "What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
My main puzzle page won't believe I completed the Acrostic. I open the puzzle, the timer keeps going, I delete a correct letter, re-enter it, and get the musical flourish. But I am still told I can RESUME the Acrostic. Anyone else?
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H. L. Mencken, and GROUCHO, seem to have used a word I think I must omit here due to standards.
I was untroubled by the words 'DEFENSE OF FREEDOM' appearing out of context. The quotes often use ellipses, so the word 'reproductive' may have been a modifier of FREEDOM in the full quote.
Also, Acrostic grids lack punctuation. For all I knew mid-solve, DEFENSE may have been the last word of a clause. The next clause could have been, 'OF FREEDOM, he wrote that it was the only thing worth fighting for' (or any such inoffensive word chain).
Can DEFENSE OF FREEDOM be taken to an extreme? Yes.
But I very recently decided temporarily: "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.".
Do I usually prefer moderation over 'extremism'? Yes.
But Atty General Kennedy said, "What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."
My main puzzle page won't believe I completed the Acrostic. I open the puzzle, the timer keeps going, I delete a correct letter, re-enter it, and get the musical flourish. But I am still told I can RESUME the Acrostic. Anyone else?
That running timer thing happens to me all the time, on solved puzzles of every kind. I have learned never to reopen the puzzle on this site.
There are people on both sides of the political aisle who believe it is a "defense of freedom" to lock people up without charge, without term, without trial, without recourse, for an indeterminate period (now stretching beyond the horizon). One of those people (one who claimed to stand against this idea) has just retired. To me, this kind of thing renders the very word "freedom" utterly meaningless. YMMV.
There are people on both sides of the political aisle who believe it is a "defense of freedom" to lock people up without charge, without term, without trial, without recourse, for an indeterminate period (now stretching beyond the horizon). One of those people (one who claimed to stand against this idea) has just retired. To me, this kind of thing renders the very word "freedom" utterly meaningless. YMMV.
2
Many words have been misappropriated and used to stand something quite contrary to what they actually mean. "Freedom" and "life" come immediately to mind.
Less of a struggle than usual, and lots of fun.
Jerrold is not wrong. Sestet refers to poetic lines. Sextet applies to groups of six other than poetic lines. The use of Sestet for "group of 6 things [such as guitar strings]" is extremely rare, not historically justified, and should be marked as the variant that it is. I really, really didn't like seeing the "s" fall into that place, since it is way, way, way off base.
My back went up in a very real sense when I saw the phrase "defense of freedom" appear during this solve. That is a phrase that means nothing to me that is good. It means paying too much money to too many of the wrong people to do too many of the wrong things to too many (other) people, places and cultures and calling it all good post facto when actually nothing at all good has actually been accomplished. An American tradition since 1898.
I was immensely relieved to see the "of speech" appear a bit later. Because "defense of freedom of speech" means paying no money to no people, who do whatever they want to do, and calling it all good _because_it_is_. True American values will survive, that is the faith I live by.
My back went up in a very real sense when I saw the phrase "defense of freedom" appear during this solve. That is a phrase that means nothing to me that is good. It means paying too much money to too many of the wrong people to do too many of the wrong things to too many (other) people, places and cultures and calling it all good post facto when actually nothing at all good has actually been accomplished. An American tradition since 1898.
I was immensely relieved to see the "of speech" appear a bit later. Because "defense of freedom of speech" means paying no money to no people, who do whatever they want to do, and calling it all good _because_it_is_. True American values will survive, that is the faith I live by.
4
If you listen to jazz, you will have seen the word sestet used many times to describe a group of six musicians. And knowing more than a few musicians, I doubt very much that prudery accounts for their linguistic choices.
1
Show me one where it isn't Italian (in Italian, sestet is the word for a group of six musicians). I'll be happy to be wrong about it. In NYT puzzle contexts, foreign language clues are cued as foreign language clues.
1
Sometimes somebody gets confused about the meaning of a word, and unfortunately that use of the word spreads like wildfire. Examples are "weaned" for what somebody grew up with, and "penultimate" for the absolute best possible.
Maybe some prude once decided to use "sestet" instead of "sextet", and that misuse of it spread around similarly to the above examples. Obviously a person (such as a musician) who uses it is not necessarily a prude himself.
Maybe some prude once decided to use "sestet" instead of "sextet", and that misuse of it spread around similarly to the above examples. Obviously a person (such as a musician) who uses it is not necessarily a prude himself.
2
Most challenging acrostic i've seen in a while. had to look up the author of "religion is bunk" (though that was a gimme for Deb). That broke the ice, (and made it clear that SHEET ICE was wrong.)
As to Jerrold's quibble, the dictionary may agree with him, but I've heard the term used often by musicians to describe an ensemble of six.
As to Jerrold's quibble, the dictionary may agree with him, but I've heard the term used often by musicians to describe an ensemble of six.
It must be (and this is not a joke) that many people are uncomfortable about saying SEXTET. What ridiculous prudery!
3
P.S. By the way, is it possible that SESTET was being used incorrectly, as meaning a set of six of anything?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sestet
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sextet
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sestet
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sextet
This is the first Acrostic that I can remember offhand that in the end I gave up on.
The grid started to have many “words” containing a jumble of consecutive consonants.
When I finally clicked on “Reveal entire puzzle” this morning,
I realized that:
When ATHEIST did not fit, I had not known that they were looking for a specific person, rather than a synonym for ATHEIST.
“Card” meant a “clown”, NOT those “idiot cards” which had first been devised by Groucho (of all people!).
“Prize” was a verb, not a noun (the same for ESTEEM).
Etc, etc, etc.
Did others here find this one extremely difficult?
The grid started to have many “words” containing a jumble of consecutive consonants.
When I finally clicked on “Reveal entire puzzle” this morning,
I realized that:
When ATHEIST did not fit, I had not known that they were looking for a specific person, rather than a synonym for ATHEIST.
“Card” meant a “clown”, NOT those “idiot cards” which had first been devised by Groucho (of all people!).
“Prize” was a verb, not a noun (the same for ESTEEM).
Etc, etc, etc.
Did others here find this one extremely difficult?
It took me 20:02, including about a minute lost going to get a glass of soda. On the easy side for me, as it happens.
We all have our wheelhouse....and our outhouse.
I figure I need five solid answers on the first go-around to be confident I can solve it. I had quite a few more this time.
That's why the expression is used: Your mileage may vary.
BTW I agree with you about SESTET. It's part of a sonnet.
We all have our wheelhouse....and our outhouse.
I figure I need five solid answers on the first go-around to be confident I can solve it. I had quite a few more this time.
That's why the expression is used: Your mileage may vary.
BTW I agree with you about SESTET. It's part of a sonnet.
I'm not a fast solver and don't strive to be. But I had enough words to go on for this one. I was raised among a family of jokesters and had a lot of exposure to the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, and many others, so it is all there in my memory banks. Even so, it was a challenge.