Fun puzzle, but "Queen's Place" is a repeat theme- Manny Nosowsky did it 9/6/06.
I can't even escape Trump while doing a crossword puzzle!
Late to the party today. Still having trouble getting back into my usual routine.
This was several notches higher on the entertainment scale than your average Tuesday. Thanks, Mr. V., and congratulations on your POW!
A couple of glitches: I thought the guy's name was David HAME. But I saw the odd RaPAU and fixed it. Alas, I entered RUPAUL'S DRAG SHOW. (Well, I've been to lots of drag shows, and never to a drag race.)
Went around the bottom with only the 59 square empty in SE. Thought 35D was the name of a football team.
But JOAD made me fix my error about the RUPAUL entry, and with enough letters (everything except the A), I remembered that I'd heard the name BRUNO MARS. I guess he's a singer.
Thanks to all.
This was several notches higher on the entertainment scale than your average Tuesday. Thanks, Mr. V., and congratulations on your POW!
A couple of glitches: I thought the guy's name was David HAME. But I saw the odd RaPAU and fixed it. Alas, I entered RUPAUL'S DRAG SHOW. (Well, I've been to lots of drag shows, and never to a drag race.)
Went around the bottom with only the 59 square empty in SE. Thought 35D was the name of a football team.
But JOAD made me fix my error about the RUPAUL entry, and with enough letters (everything except the A), I remembered that I'd heard the name BRUNO MARS. I guess he's a singer.
Thanks to all.
3
That was a great, efficient, enjoyable, and refreshingly modern puzzle. Somehow got my record Tuesday time, which was actually a little saddening considering I didn't get to fully savor some of the finer details and "Aha!" moments as I rushed through. I think it went quickly as the structure, fill, and cluing was so well done. Theme entries were thoroughly entertaining as I love chess, the band, and those in drag. Really nice puzzle with no laments here.
3
Definitely chewy Tuesday puzzle, which I had more than the usual number of wrong guesses needing revision (LEGATO before RUBATO, etc.). Heard of RUPAUL but not his DRAG RACE, the band QUEEN but not its music, and BRUNO MARS but not his reason for fame. (That's OK, my brain is stuffed with more than enough trivia as it is.)
I was thrown a bit by the clue "Queens' place" at 23 Across, since NYT style dictates that the possessive of the borough or county be "Queens's" (as the NYT's Search function confirms). Also thought "Central points" fits FOCI much better than LOCI, but dictionaries confirm its centrality, and I definitely never heard of J. FO. (D. FO, yes.) (I wonder if this arose from a confusion between LOCI and FOCI.) I vaguely think the same issue has befuddled me previously. In any case, I fondly recall my father doing magic for me when I was small, incanting "Hocus pocus chimney locus!" just before the denouement.
I was thrown a bit by the clue "Queens' place" at 23 Across, since NYT style dictates that the possessive of the borough or county be "Queens's" (as the NYT's Search function confirms). Also thought "Central points" fits FOCI much better than LOCI, but dictionaries confirm its centrality, and I definitely never heard of J. FO. (D. FO, yes.) (I wonder if this arose from a confusion between LOCI and FOCI.) I vaguely think the same issue has befuddled me previously. In any case, I fondly recall my father doing magic for me when I was small, incanting "Hocus pocus chimney locus!" just before the denouement.
1
I also had a bit of a hitch about that apostrophe placement, and how it made "Queens" look like a plural. Of course, the technically correct usage would have been very awkward in context of this puzzle. I think a bit of license is excusable, especially since that misuse of an apostrophe is a very common error. I wonder, though, if an alternative might have been to omit the apostrophe entirely, although that might have made it too obvious.
2
Yes, "Queens" would have worked attributively.
That pesky SE corner - but my problem was different from what I'm reading here. I did know NSFW from previous Wordplays, but I didn't know BRUNOMARS. For all I knew it could have been MART at the end, and TXSW looked as if the TX could have referred to Texas. So that was my Natick and my DNF, after a smoothe solve of all the rest (the RUPAUL one I got only from crosses and had to google afterwards to find out what I was missing in USA culture).
BTW, David Connell, I owe you an answer for your late question about the dreidel game, but I have to complete some research before I get back to you on it. Before next Chanukah, I hope.
BTW, David Connell, I owe you an answer for your late question about the dreidel game, but I have to complete some research before I get back to you on it. Before next Chanukah, I hope.
2
Anytime, Viv. I look forward to learning from you.
This was a much more chewy Tuesday than I expected, not that I didn't appreciate it!
Clues like 16A always remind me of a Salvatore Dali painting: see, e.g.,
https://sites.google.com/site/mustbu/anthropomorphiccabinet
A bit surprised at 49D -- is that from Deb's connect to the Onion? :-)
Kudos to Finn!!
Clues like 16A always remind me of a Salvatore Dali painting: see, e.g.,
https://sites.google.com/site/mustbu/anthropomorphiccabinet
A bit surprised at 49D -- is that from Deb's connect to the Onion? :-)
Kudos to Finn!!
That was fun! I enjoyed looking for the QUEEN places.
Like others I had trouble with 56D and 65A, and had to Reveal them to finish. Also like others here, I didn't know that RUPAUL has a DRAGRACE.
AHA - I just got it - DRAG as in clothing.
Like others I had trouble with 56D and 65A, and had to Reveal them to finish. Also like others here, I didn't know that RUPAUL has a DRAGRACE.
AHA - I just got it - DRAG as in clothing.
1
This QUEEN-centric puzzle is a crowning accomplishment for Mr. Vigeland. My solve went quickly, but the multiple theme definitions made it quite fun. I was actually drawn early to the SE, with the SXSW/NSFW crossing. Different strokes. Of course the reference to David HUME conjured up the Monty Python song for me too.
As Bru said, no shortage of musical possibilities today. And if he get's a twofer this Tuesday, then I do too!
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMErs Queen took a while to catch on in the US, but were huge elsewhere around the world from the get-go. Their self-titled 1973 debut album featured the hard-rocking track "LIAR":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU7rqB9E_0M
I posted a Mott the Hoople clip last week. They're back for an encore today with their 1969 single "ROCK AND ROLL Queen":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwsTyCXm6-w
As Bru said, no shortage of musical possibilities today. And if he get's a twofer this Tuesday, then I do too!
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMErs Queen took a while to catch on in the US, but were huge elsewhere around the world from the get-go. Their self-titled 1973 debut album featured the hard-rocking track "LIAR":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU7rqB9E_0M
I posted a Mott the Hoople clip last week. They're back for an encore today with their 1969 single "ROCK AND ROLL Queen":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwsTyCXm6-w
2
Another fun Tuesday, although Hasbro's latest version of the boardgame Clue has but one MRS in its lineup. Mrs. White has been replaced by biologist Dr. Orchid. I do hope everything's okay at the mansion...
4
Lots of fun today, and lots of ways to make me think outside the box.
Again, I'm struck by how the puzzle reflects popular culture as I go through some of the older puzzles in the archive. NSFW, TWEET and even RUPAULSDRAGRACE show a bit of the popular mood.
Very well done. Thanks!
Again, I'm struck by how the puzzle reflects popular culture as I go through some of the older puzzles in the archive. NSFW, TWEET and even RUPAULSDRAGRACE show a bit of the popular mood.
Very well done. Thanks!
2
LOCI are just points, but FOCI would be central points. JLO saved me anyway, but still...
Also a minor objection to pointy stone. ARROWHEADs are worked, and i read the clue to kind of exclude that. (I'm not quite sure why, but it just strikes me that "stone" by itself means a natural stone.)
Also a minor objection to pointy stone. ARROWHEADs are worked, and i read the clue to kind of exclude that. (I'm not quite sure why, but it just strikes me that "stone" by itself means a natural stone.)
1
Right you are. LOCI are usualloy path indicators.
Stepping out of math class, LOCI can also be FOCI.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/locus
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/locus
Zippy puzzle. RUPAULSGRAGRACE was a sticky wicket as I did not know he/she had a race, That said I am certain it is entertaining.
Thanks Finn.
Thanks Finn.
Superlative puzzle with gimmes galore. It did take me a while to parse the fifteener acting as the puzzle's equator. After scaling that peak I exclaimed to myself, "that's a WRAP."..Yikes! There's an endless array of music built into the grid. I decided on this twofer. The COHEREnce factor is yet another Queen's place.
It befuddles me how this guy's not in the 47/57a.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwhxXjdMPd8
This dearly departed Oklahoman accomplished more than enough to EARN his spot in the HALL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9CHAMbfZ6A
"Roller Derby" lyric:
I'm up in Oakland on a Saturday night
Lord, I said I just didn't feel right
Goodnight ladies all around
But the right one hadn't found me such a bad night
I didn't feel right
Then a friend came over 'fore it got too late
Asked me if I'd like you as a double date
My stars above, I fell in love
chorus
Now Queenie's a lady, she's quite a child
Oh, she'll make you feel fine
Remember the time that a trucker from Dallas
Was callous to Queenie with his rude side
Now he can't deny, that he gotten much more than he bargained for
Queenie's right cross run him to the floor
Now he knows better than to mess
chours
Oh, as fast as a bullet she can jam all night
Makes a full grown wonder bull die with fright
When we get home alone in love
She murmurs like a sweet moaning dove, ooh
Oh, such a lady, she's quite a child
She'll make me feel good in this heart of mine
She's my love, she's a lady
chorus
PEACE,
Bru
It befuddles me how this guy's not in the 47/57a.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwhxXjdMPd8
This dearly departed Oklahoman accomplished more than enough to EARN his spot in the HALL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9CHAMbfZ6A
"Roller Derby" lyric:
I'm up in Oakland on a Saturday night
Lord, I said I just didn't feel right
Goodnight ladies all around
But the right one hadn't found me such a bad night
I didn't feel right
Then a friend came over 'fore it got too late
Asked me if I'd like you as a double date
My stars above, I fell in love
chorus
Now Queenie's a lady, she's quite a child
Oh, she'll make you feel fine
Remember the time that a trucker from Dallas
Was callous to Queenie with his rude side
Now he can't deny, that he gotten much more than he bargained for
Queenie's right cross run him to the floor
Now he knows better than to mess
chours
Oh, as fast as a bullet she can jam all night
Makes a full grown wonder bull die with fright
When we get home alone in love
She murmurs like a sweet moaning dove, ooh
Oh, such a lady, she's quite a child
She'll make me feel good in this heart of mine
She's my love, she's a lady
chorus
PEACE,
Bru
3
I left a couple of squares blank in that SE corner, so just filled them in after reading the comments, pleased that I was not alone in not getting that.
Otherwise a great Tuesday puzzle, wordplay at its best. I had to get 36A entirely from the downs and thought I must have some letters wrong for a while. The rest came fairly quickly, each one fun to get.
Otherwise a great Tuesday puzzle, wordplay at its best. I had to get 36A entirely from the downs and thought I must have some letters wrong for a while. The rest came fairly quickly, each one fun to get.
4
Stuck in the SE corner too, suejean. Briefly excited that there was an annual Jane Austin festival somewhere, but, oops, different Austin. :)
2
Nice enough theme and a pretty easy puzzle for the most part. Did note the apostrophe placement after the fact, though not when I first read the clues. Finished with an error, which is no big deal for me. Yes, I've heard NSFW before, but never actually seen it above a link. But I was really focused on SXS, which seemed unlikely. Kept checking the crossing clues to see what could be wrong and finally just filled in a C (children) in the last square as a best guess.
Was really surprised to see Finn, Jeff Chen and Deb all highlight YALU as a difficult answer. Plus the clue for the first time includes the extra hint. It's appeared 115 times before, always clued straightforwardly. Has that really fallen into obscurity?
Deb borrowed my exact music link from last Thursday (though in fairness, she may well have written this column before that). I'll just go with 'great minds.' And last Wednesday was the last appearance of PAPA and my resisting the temptation to (re)link my all time favorite pop song. I'll just take this as a sign that I shouldn't resist again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzly6jrepRU
You could leave out all the vocals (and there is a Funk Brothers version which does just that) and this is a great song. Or you could cut out all instrumental backing other than the repeated bass line and have four guys standing on a corner beating rhythm with their hands and just singing the chorus occasionally and it's a great song. Put it all together and it's a great song.
Was really surprised to see Finn, Jeff Chen and Deb all highlight YALU as a difficult answer. Plus the clue for the first time includes the extra hint. It's appeared 115 times before, always clued straightforwardly. Has that really fallen into obscurity?
Deb borrowed my exact music link from last Thursday (though in fairness, she may well have written this column before that). I'll just go with 'great minds.' And last Wednesday was the last appearance of PAPA and my resisting the temptation to (re)link my all time favorite pop song. I'll just take this as a sign that I shouldn't resist again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzly6jrepRU
You could leave out all the vocals (and there is a Funk Brothers version which does just that) and this is a great song. Or you could cut out all instrumental backing other than the repeated bass line and have four guys standing on a corner beating rhythm with their hands and just singing the chorus occasionally and it's a great song. Put it all together and it's a great song.
4
With you on YALU, Rich. It would be hard not to know if you are -- pr know -- a veteran of the "United Nations Police Action" in Korea in the 1950s. If I didn't know YALU, if I didn't know rivers in Cambodia, I might have tried PENH.
3
Barry,
Or if you've ever picked up a history book.
Or if you've ever picked up a history book.
3
Or even fiction (see Michener).
2
A very pleasant Tuesday solve. A versatile word "queen"; thinking of palaces and bee hives and decks of cards and homecoming dances and fairy tales. I am sure there are more. A FEW bird-like answers today with AVIAN, TWEET, COO, AIR, and the dove-related PEACE. Hoping for a Goldilocks puzzle tomorrow.
2
I'm watching The Crown (highly recommended), so I smiled when putting in my first theme answer (NEW_YORK_CITY), realizing that the answers would be alternative uses of the traditional (for me) meaning of "queen". Nice clue for EARN ("Make bread"), as Deb points out.
The theme clues are not exactly the same, as two have the apostrophe before the S, and two have it after (as Deb also points out). Which reminds me of something I came across this week: There is a group called the Apostrophe Protection Society (you can Google this), whose purpose is to promote and ensure the correct use of that punctuation mark. How did I come across this tidbit? I was researching a clue for "pedant"...
Following up on Paul's comment below, not only does the puzzle have a specific Trump clue (for TWEET), answers include LIAR, ANTSY, BOOR, and especially NSFW. Is the man not everywhere these days?
The theme clues are not exactly the same, as two have the apostrophe before the S, and two have it after (as Deb also points out). Which reminds me of something I came across this week: There is a group called the Apostrophe Protection Society (you can Google this), whose purpose is to promote and ensure the correct use of that punctuation mark. How did I come across this tidbit? I was researching a clue for "pedant"...
Following up on Paul's comment below, not only does the puzzle have a specific Trump clue (for TWEET), answers include LIAR, ANTSY, BOOR, and especially NSFW. Is the man not everywhere these days?
3
I wasn't thrilled to see a Trump clue here and in the MINI. Oh well.
1
I try to imagine this same comment with Obama substituted for Trump (since Mr. Obama was clued many times in NYT crosswords) and the outrage that would thus ensue. Don't count this reply as outrage, merely bemusement. :-)
2
I didn't mind the clue, but I wanted the entry to be taunt, trash or tripe before TWEET.
1
This isn't about politics. I wasn't thrilled to see a Rupaul clue, but it's a crossword puzzle. Life goes on.
Sorry, errant fingers hit Submit by chance...Anyway, had a fine and challenging solve until reaching the very last square at the confluence of 56D and 65A. Not familiar with the festival or the warning - though I know I've seen NSFW before now I know the answer - was left to go through the alphabet, a long slog it being W. Oh well, boo hoo great Tuesday puzzle. Be well all!
2
Fine Tuesday puzzle. Fitting tribute to the 65th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's ascendancy to the throne of England. Coincidence? Anyway, had a fine and challenging solve until reaching the very last square at the confluence of
2
BTW, this is, I understand, the Saphire Jubilee. Long live the Queen!
3
The NSFW cross with SCSW was a Natik. Unfortunate in an otherwise nice puzzle.
6
I had that Natick too. Rats.
and Elke
Since RUPAULSDRAGRACE was not in my WHEELhouse, when I got the -ACE I assumed it was "palace" leading me seriously astray....
Then I started looking for a "beehive" for a "queen".
Finally got my ACT together because the downs helped. And OLAF was with an F, not V.
Noticed a theme ? We have COO, then HOT ONE and ENAMOR and , fortunately, the LATEX was available in the SXSW.
That's a WRAP. NOW to look at the pictures of the Vigeland Park in Oslo.
Finn, is Gustave V. any relation ?
Since RUPAULSDRAGRACE was not in my WHEELhouse, when I got the -ACE I assumed it was "palace" leading me seriously astray....
Then I started looking for a "beehive" for a "queen".
Finally got my ACT together because the downs helped. And OLAF was with an F, not V.
Noticed a theme ? We have COO, then HOT ONE and ENAMOR and , fortunately, the LATEX was available in the SXSW.
That's a WRAP. NOW to look at the pictures of the Vigeland Park in Oslo.
Finn, is Gustave V. any relation ?
4
very easy, did not like the bottom corner in the SE. NSFW intersects with SXSW
both obscure to me! did get it eventually. did dredge up David Hume from my long ago Philosophy classes!
both obscure to me! did get it eventually. did dredge up David Hume from my long ago Philosophy classes!
4
NSFW, I learned at this location several months ago, means Not Suitable for Work—i.e., best not to let this be seen on your computer screen at the office. Today's blog explains SXSW.
Hume exHumed. Nice one :)
3
Hume exHumed. Nice one :)
3
The Yalu River is an important river, serving as an international boundary between China and North Korea and the site (one could say not coincidentally) of several historical battles. Rivers last longer than baseball stars, so maybe there's room in the brain for this name.
Yale has a long history of connections in East Asia - but the name of the school is rendered as Yali Daxue in Chinese, Eeru Daigaku in Japanese, and Yeru Taehak in Korean.
I enjoyed this puzzle - though it flew by. Finn V. did well, as usual.
Yale has a long history of connections in East Asia - but the name of the school is rendered as Yali Daxue in Chinese, Eeru Daigaku in Japanese, and Yeru Taehak in Korean.
I enjoyed this puzzle - though it flew by. Finn V. did well, as usual.
3
Oh, I meant to comment on the connection to the First Ladies puzzle from Sunday...
The queen on the chessboard is also a First Lady, since the original chess pieces did not include females. The piece we know as queen was originally either an advisor or protector to the king (in Mongolian versions, a sheepdog!), and had a much more limited movement (one square in any direction in most games; in some, one or two). When the queen became the modern chess piece, with huge range of motion and great threatening power, she broke the game wide open. The Italians called playing chess with the new piece's movement "alla rabiosa" - "played with the crazy lady." Once promotion of pawns was added, the game would never go back to the slog it had been before.
The queen on the chessboard is also a First Lady, since the original chess pieces did not include females. The piece we know as queen was originally either an advisor or protector to the king (in Mongolian versions, a sheepdog!), and had a much more limited movement (one square in any direction in most games; in some, one or two). When the queen became the modern chess piece, with huge range of motion and great threatening power, she broke the game wide open. The Italians called playing chess with the new piece's movement "alla rabiosa" - "played with the crazy lady." Once promotion of pawns was added, the game would never go back to the slog it had been before.
6
P.S.
Three cheers for Deb and her ability to appreciate, and promote appreciation of, the puzzles.
Three cheers for Deb and her ability to appreciate, and promote appreciation of, the puzzles.
4
Thank you, David, for your interesting chess information. I always thought chess had been handed down unchanged since time immemorial. I like the "crazy lady" reference. Must have been traumatic for chess aficionados of the time.
2
This was very lively and fun, with some things I wasn’t quite expecting. I just rewatched Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl performance before deleting the recording, so it was fun to see BRUNO MARS here. I think Lady Gaga had him beat, though. The assortment of Queens was refreshing, although I did wonder if an earlier version of the puzzle might have include royal ones--or if it was always the non-palaced sorts.
1