Sorry. I didn't read the earlier comments. Others made that point earlier. As the Gilda Radner character Roseanne Rosanadana used to say on Saturday Night Live: never mind.
Error in Wednesday's (Sept 27) puzzle:
47-Down, clue: "Traitorous Major ___ of the Revolutionary War."
"Correct" answer: "ANDRE."
For Major John André. But he wasn't a traitor. He was a British Army officer who was what we would now call the "handler" for the American general Benedict Arnold - who WAS a traitor. André was captured in civilian clothes and hanged as a spy per the accepted rules of the time. But he died a loyal officer of the Crown. Spy: yes. Traitor: no.
Won't add to the commentary today. I'll just go with 22a and 49a and this old favorite from Joan Baez. Hope this doesn't have unpleasant associations for anyone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX7M9psH0rM
..
3
I'll add to that, RiA (no unpleasant associations, I hope):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNrzsSgCTAQ
2
Unlike Sam, I got AFLCIO immediately but got stuck on UNION, of all things. (I leapt straight to UNITY; must have been thinking about the candle. It sure made 37 and 36 down interesting.) I also blithely entered GRAFT and wondered why New Orleans' mayor didn't sound at all familiar...
Started across the top okay, but had to work and work to get the completely unknown CYPRESS HILL. Looked at the circled letters that I already had filled in and came up with only GLASS EATER, likewise completely unknown.
Went down until I got to the revealer at 42A. I only had the IN in the middle and the US at the end, but looking at the THREE RINGs of circled squares gave me the answer. Having very limited experience of CIRCUSes, I just assumed I'd missed out on GLASS EATERs.
The rest was a walk in the park. I had no problem getting ANDRE and NAGIN, although I was annoyed by the incorrectness of the ANDRE clue (no matter how Barry justifies it). I remember Katrina, and NAGIN, all too well, and I keep reliving it as Puerto Rico and the VIs are undergoing conditions as bad or worse.
I have a theory that the only adults who enjoy CIRCUSes are those who saw them as children and go all over nostalgic. I saw my first, a small one, at age 21 in England, and was bored. At about 50, I saw a Ringling/B&B that was an AIDS benefit. The THREE RINGs part was annoying and the treatment of the animals, which I hadn't expected, was appalling. Was very glad when the latter became an issue and was eventually forced to end.
3
Hear, hear on the circus animal abuse.
1
1A: The Watt is a unit of power named after James Watt, who was undoubtedly a "power figure."
1
I agree, Chris, as you'll see when you make it to the earliest comments.
1
Well, we all live in different physical and mental neighborhoods. I couldn't fill 24a until I had lots of crossings. If it had been defined as a "Queens Cemetery" I would have gotten it much sooner. Similarly, 13d could have been clued as "It's all gone, in Alabama." ELOI is not as firmly in my wheelhouse as ERTE but I still have hope that it will gel. Every day I marvel at the intricacies of our language and our brains.
4
Love your idea of "It's all gone, in Alabama" as clue to NO_MO. I guess Alabama was a pretty likely choice, but maybe there's NO_MO you'd all see in Arizona also, at times.
Alas, NO MO Udall fans...
1
I've already shared this in an email, but the 47 Down clue is historically inaccurate in suggesting that the major in question was "traitorous." Major John Andre was not a traitor. He was a loyal British officer who was executed by the Americans precisely for that loyalty. He was working with an American traitor, Benedict Arnold, who was prepared to surrender control of West Point to the British. The only reason Andre was executed, by the way, was because he was dressed as a civilian and hence treated as a spy. Had he been in uniform, he would have been accorded the treatment of a prisoner of war.
2
We all agree that Major John Andre was not a traitor. Dressing as a civilian to avoid detection is treacherous, and treacherous is one definition of traitorous. The clue was traitorous, not traitor. Even so, Andre would not have been hanged had the British not hanged Nathan Hale and/or had the British been willing to give up the traitor Arnold in exchange for him.
1
That's a pretty recursive definition of treacherous. Would you agree that substituting your own example of Nathan Hale would be a poor choice for that descriptor? He was hanged for the same "treachery" as Andre. Using the word traitorous in the clue was ill-advised and insulting. This clue sapped any enjoyment of the puzzle for me.
3
Ardelion and Dillon, you are right. It was a sloppy mistake and should have been more carefully clued. Even placing quotes around the word traitorous would have been better (although still not correct).
4
Pretty quick finish today. CYPRESSHILL was a big gimme, and I took a flier on THREERINGCIRCUS with just a few letters in place. SW was the last to fall, with ANDRE abutting NAGIN. Paid no attention to the circles until I was finished and went back to check. Nice reveal.
The Rolling Stones organized a BBC TV concert called "The Rock and Roll CIRCUS" in 1968, with guests including The Who, Jethro Tull, John Lennon, and Eric Clapton. The footage went unaired/unheard for decades, reportedly because Mick Jagger thought the Stones performance was subpar, especially compared to The Who. It finally saw the light of day in 1996. Judging by this clip of the Stones' classic "You Can't Always Get What You Want," Mick's cocerns were unfounded:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-7u9usC22o
4
I had no idea on major Andre but got ur through the crosses (my revolutionary war history knowledge has mostly collapsed into what is in "Hamilton"!)
Wednesdays are generally the last day I can complete the puzzle without much difficulty, this one wasn't too bad for me so it must have been easy for many. I guess a lot of the names were in my trivia wheelhouse. All except the Siddhartha author which I had to look up. That and the dwarf planet Eris messed me up a bit since I had first put town cryer not crier. Writing that out now it looks silly that I misspelled it, but it is what it is.
Gonna have to go find some archive puzzles to do now, I've got my crossword Jones on and I've done all my usual dailies. Cheers.
1
I recommend 1993 in the archives. It was a good (puzzle) year.
1
Knew EOCENE from a dear friend who is an environmentalist writer and uses that term all the time. But the TOWNCRIER/ERIS crossing stopped me cold and left me wondering whether it was an I or Y. Both looked right, so I just guessed and ... yes, it's going to be a good day.
1
John Andre was not a traitor. He was a spy, esteemed by the Americans for his gallantry. Benedict Arnold was the traitor.
2
The three circles tipped us off to the revealer before we read a clue! Enjoyable morning...eventually we will all know all about hip-hop, reggae, rap, etc. (if we can remember what we learn). At least I now know how to pronounce ACAI. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d22CiKMPpaY)
A minor thought: in my limited and now dated experience of circuses and such, glass eaters would be confined to the sideshow, not performing in the Big Top of song and story. Remember Betty Hutton and Cornell Wilde?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIhrGSxslzQ
2
I'd just like to say that in today's "Mini," the answer for the clue for 5D, "go from brunette to blond, say" should be bleach, not dye. Dye adds color; bleach removes color. Dye = Darker. Bleach = Lighter. People misuse "dye" all the time. It kills me.
1
Yes, this is not the first time it's been clued that way. It's still wrong!
Serious and offensive error on 47D. Individual referenced was NOT a traitor but rather a loyal and brace British officef
1
Hmm. Major ANDRE was a spy--which got him hung--but he wasn't a traitor. He was British, he was an officer, and he was instrumental in encouraging General Benedict Arnold in traitorous acts. But do let's keep our facts straight!
I have been to many circuses--even ones with THREE RINGs, but a GLASS EATER? Nope. WIRE WALKER? Tight-rope walker, yes. High-WIRE act, maybe.
As always, rock group clues are lost on me! On to ThFSatSun! SELAH!
3
You're right on the glass eating. That's more of a side-show, geek act. More associated with a carnival than a circus.
1
Living here in Louisiana during Katrina, NAGIN was a gimme for me, so that corner wasn't too bad. However, it had been too long since my college history class on the American Revolution to remember ANDRE.
What tripped me up was the crossing of CYPRESS HILL and SELAH. Not a hip-hop fan so I'd never heard of the group, and I wasn't familiar with that word in Psalms. My version of the Bible must use a different translation. I got it finally by just trying different letters until the "H" worked.
Fun Wednesday puzzle!
1
The H in CYPRESS HILL and SELAH was my final fill, too.
GRIFT, graft - a crime by any other name is just as petty.
Guess what mistake I made.
TIE DYE and candle making were a right of passage back in the day. Wandered about with multicolored hands (Rit Permanant colors) until Sue V's father suggested we use some of his surgical gloves: The more you know!
Nice puzzle. Felt like a Tuesday but who am I to complain.
Thank you Jacob
2
I guess I haven't been to any CIRCUS in a long time. The acts were not those I remember. Which is fine. I can appreciate puzzles references after my time. Liked UNION with AFL CIO though.
A number of comments have mentioned "tie-dies". Please, it's "tie-dYe". I don't know anyone who has tie-died. Yet. (Content-wise, "colors" was an ok clue for me. My brain easily went to "colorful things".)
2
Strange, that.
A bit morbid to joke about, but anyone killed by hanging was tie-died. I was likewise irked by the misspellings.
1
Gloriana, tie-die is what happens after the rope goes around your neck and they whup your horse on the rump.
Now that Judge Roy Bean is headed for the Senate from Alabama we'll have to get used to that. No, sorry, that's fake noose.
6
It is actually a four ring circus what with that MATADOR waving that red cape smack dab in the middle of this bull-ring of a puzzle...I always need cross support when the clues speak to dwarf orbs...A sad song is in order in light of The Greatest Show On Earth folding its' tents. Philly Dogs Blue Magic offer their signature ballad from 1974, "Sideshow."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwceYXrnmuE
Ruefully,
Bru
1
Sad? Really??? The "greatest show" folded because it had a long history of disgusting, blatant animal abuse. They faced declining ticket sales because -- one ray of hope for humanity -- fewer people wanted to pay to see elephants and other creatures suffer.
I'd go for this:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c
2
Excuse me?!
Wow.
1
Yeah, you are right. Now there will be more elephants available for all those savage ivory poachers that ruthlessly seize their spoils (tusks) then abandon the animals leaving them for dead. That's blatant cruelty.
2
A commenter on another site thought it would have been clever to have BARNUM for BARIUM, given this theme. Brilliant! And it could easily been done, with Doctor No (DRNO) for TRIO and EDY for ETC. Would have given the puzzle pop, but I'm guessing no one saw it but the commenter, who deserves a roaring "Bravo!".
I loved the NW with TOWN CRIER, and TIE DIES. I also liked the WATT's up and WIPE out. It's quite lovely that the clue "Yadda, yadda, yadda" crosses TRIO. As @Amitai Halevi mentions earlier, the cluing is direct, through and through, and I believe Wednesdays should have more GUILE on that front. The cluing, for me, put this puzzle on the easy side of Wednesday. The theme was cute, and to its credit, no animals were involved.
I'll be away for two weeks, relaxing overseas, and I look forward to rejoining you all upon my return!
3
But with BARNUM for BARIUM, DRNO for TRIO and EDY for ETC, you'd end up with FIREDANCEY for the left lower ring.
Perhaps instead MEA for MER, ENC for ETC, and then you have NANO for TRIO.
Enjoy your vacation, Lewis.
2
Oh, good catch, Wen! And your patch works very well. I'll take an ENC with BARNUM any time (especially with this theme) over ETC with BARIUM. And thank you for your good wishes!
Bon voyage, Lewis
1
I got the two rings at the bottom first, but had to take a break to get the reveal, nice AHA moment though. Very cleverly constructed.
2
My reaction to today’s puzzle is pretty much the same as to yesterday’s, only more so: Too many unknown proper nouns, several of which could not be obtained from the crosses and obliged me to consult Google. Some delay was caused by TWEED before SERGE and BLOWN before BORNE
I didn’t see the three circles of circled squares, so I did not understand the theme until reading the article. Even if I had, it wouldn't have helped me solve the puzzle.
IMO, there were too few misdirected clues for Wednesday. The only one that was even mildly so is FIG. There is no reference to a fig tree in Genesis 3, but as there were fig-leaves the presence of a tree is implied.
2
I thought the mistaken fill "fir" for fig was funny (per Sam Ezersky's comments). Can you imagine Adam and Eve covering their nakedness with fir boughs? It would be awfully prickly.
3
Supposedly fig leaves have a texture like sandpaper, so that humor is already built into the Genesis text.
ABBA is one of my least favorite bands, ever; Abba is the name of a writer and leader of Israel; abba is a Hebrew word for father. The first word in 63D should be all caps.
5
Was about to post the same. Capitalization is a key part of the cluing, and Abba is not ABBA. Good catch!
2
ABBA is one of my favorite musical groups. But it is ABBA.
I though the puzzle was exempt from pointless NY Times style requirements, like insisting on Nascar or Navy Seals.
3
I believe the pointlessness kicks in at five letters and above, Jimbo.
But pointlessness is what it is regardless.
3
It's very strange to put a ghastly clue/fill like 1D at the start of s puzzle. Even worse then the theme is THREERINGCIRCUS.
Think it through. I'll wait.
:-(
Three negative fills in a row, across the bottom: GRIFT, LIE and TWERP. Did not like that.
I saw the "acts" in the circles, but it was a bit hard to figure out where the first letter was in each circle, because it was not consistent.
All told, 1d runined this for me.
1
Ruined, I meant. Time for new eyeglasses.
I was I that 1D was going to have something to do with whipped cream, not so keen on that one either. Peaches.
1
Suejean, it floors me that anyone can write out that clue and fill, and think nothing if it. It takes a twisted -- or perhaps numb -- sensibility to think, "Yeah, that works!" in a puzzle. I used to hold the NYT to a higher standard, across the board.
1
and Elke
since it's puzzle-printing day, I could see quickly the circles which formed larger circles.
Thought that the THREE RING CIRCUS referred to happenings in WA (CO or TT) , though. After all there is the ART of 'dealmaking' , TWERP , LIE ....
Had to REDO the caribou clue- tried 'Alaska' , then 'Canada' and finally TUNDRA .
Thought it was clever that NAGaN crossed GRaFT- but then discovered that I was too clever ; after all what would be FaRE DANCERs ? . Actually, come to think of it, are they called 'poledancers'?
Was wondering why it is ESSES, but only EFs (not EFfS) .
Was helped by recurrence of DNA , ACAI , LEO .
SELAH.
1
The latest on 48D: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/10/us/ray-nagin-former-new-orleans-mayor...
1
Terrible clue for Major Andre. He was a British officer--and a spy. How can you call him "traitorous" for serving his country.
It was Benedict Arnold who was the traitor.
If you're going to call Major Andre a traitor, you'd better plan to call Nathan Hale a traitor too.
20
I came here to complain about the Andre clue too. He was not a traitor.
4
There are some posts today about lack of misdirection in the puzzle; the Andre clue was classic misdirection. One need *not* be a traitor to be "Traitorous."
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/traitorous
1
He was an enemy, but how was that treacherous? You would expect him to be playing patty-cake with the rebels?
1
Major André is well-known among fans of "Turn: Washington's Spies," at least.
"Oh, Be A Fine Girl (Guy), Kiss Me!"
"Right Now, Sweetie!"
That's the classic mnemonic for Star type-classes, in astronomical order (O-Star, B-Star, A-Star, etc.).
My happy music was momentarily delayed by Erys / Cryer in place of Eris / Crier.
From the Mini: Bryn Mawr differs from Bala Cynwyd (and Llanerch, Uwchlan, Radnor, Tredyffrin, etc.) since it was actually named Humphreysville until developers decided that Welsh names (such as those others) sounded posh and made for a tonier mailing address / train station name.
2
Me, too, with CRIER, but because I was relying on the crosses to get 34A, I had no way to know. Also, we typically call a hippie-era item TIEDIEd, but I've never heard the colors themselves named TIEDIES. The word refers to the process not the colors, which can be rainbow or two-tone or a single tone...
1
I took 'colors' in the clue to be the verb, rather than the noun, eljay. That seems to be what you're indicating in your last sentence also.
The hippie TIEDYES every possible item of clothing.
Major John André (1750-1780) was no traitor. A traitor is one who betrays his own country or sovereign; André was an officer in the British army and spied on the Yankees in the line of duty. Benedict Arnold was a traitor; André was not. Cf. “Spying against one’s own country, say” = TREASONOUS (4/8/09).
16
Agreed he was not a traitor, but the clue said "Traitorous," and that word can mean treacherous, which *is* a valid description. I am more concerned that our guest columnist would find Andre obscure. Does he not still appear in U.S. high school history readings? (Of course we all know Ray NAGIN.)
6
I disagree Andre was "treacherous." He was secretive, no doubt, but how was he treacherous, i.e. Deceptive?
1
I had a fairly rigorous honors American history class in HS, and No, Major ANDRE was never mentioned. He was not a major figure (ha ha.). But his name does come up in some story (the tree where he was hanged being haunted)...Sleepy Hollow?
1
Sam writes: Here, “Power figure?” is not referring to one in an authority role, but a value used in measuring electrical power.
Or not. James WATT, who developed the modern steam engine, is quite definitely a "Power figure."
5
Not a "power figure" per se, but his name was given to a unit of power
'figure' can mean 'person of note', and Watt is certainly an important figure in the history of electric power. So yes, "power figure" can work for either the person or the unit of measurement.
Er . . . that really should read "history of power" not "history of electric power". Can't edit it now though.
1
I figured out FIRE DANCER and WIRE WALKER as I went along, but I had to wait until I'd finished the puzzle and go back to look at GLASS EATER to figure out what that act was. It seemed a lot less obvious than the others, but then I haven't been to any circuses lately. I didn't think ANDRE and NAGIN were too obscure, but if I weren't living in the US I would definitely have had problems with them.
I haven't forgotten about posting a link to a photo of Suejean and me. But I'm having trouble with the connection between my camera and the laptop. In the past, when I went on a long trip and took hundreds of photos, I could just put the camera's memory card into the slot in the laptop and transfer the photos. But that's not working this time--nothing happens when I do that--so I'm stuck. If anyone has ideas or suggestions, I'm happy to listen. I'm going to try to take it to someone later this week to try to solve the problem. (It's a Canon camera and a MacBook Pro laptop).
1
Try this:
Have the camera turned off and iPhoto not open. Plug the connector from the camera into the USB port. Then turn the camera on. If iPhoto doesn't open automatically, then open iPhoto (it should be in your dock as a color-wheel kind of icon; otherwise do a Finder search to open it) and look in the column at the left for the icon for the Canon camera. Click on that and it should give you the option for importing the photos (or selected photos if you like) into your library.
Anything that _does_ work, on any technological device, _will_ be changed for the worse within the year. It's a requirement. People make a living making other people miserable with these "advances."
2
Liz, you may need a software update from Canon, especially if you updated your mac OS recently.
David, that won't work because there are more than 1000 photos. My fix for that in the past has been putting the card directly into the laptop slot, which has always worked until now. Also, with the most recent OS update I did, my photos now go to Photos, not iPhoto. (This made me crazy when it happened). Noel, thanks, I've looked at some of the Canon help sites without much luck but will continue to search them. I've updated the Mac [fairly] recently but thought I had imported large batches of photos a couple of times since then.
Oh well. Technology.
interesting puzzle. I remember when the two unions merged in the fifties to form the AFL-CIO. Monumental back then.
4