As a person who always felt awful because crossword puzzles were the bane of my existence I adore the mind crossword!
Thank you Joel Fagliano for the mini to allow me to feel good when we finish your meal now crossword!
I thought this was a really fun early-in-the-week puzzle! I cruised through it after a great aha! moment when I got the theme.
Note to the emus and anyone else watching out there in tech land: Adding a comment is not working right now on a non-Mac desktop using the Opera browser. (This comment is being sent using Edge on the same desktop.)
Nice puzzle, Wednesday PR. Thanks.
1
This initially had me totally flummoxed. Then bit by bit I filled in the last parts of the theme clues. I even got 40 down and thought maybe BEL was needed elsewhere. Eventually I filled in everything, got the music, but hadn't a clue where the first three letters of each theme clue had come from, let alone what the theme was.
Thanks once again, Deb. Eventually, part way through the comments I went back and looked at 40 down and got it. I may have been slow but I eventually caught on. Huge sigh of relief.
2
I got the whole puzzle completed and still couldn't figure out the stray letters prefixing the terms. So thank you, Deb; it was driving me nuts. (But now I feel dumb for not catching on!)
1
Deb, thank you for sacrificing your computer screen to solving the riddle of this puzzle!
Sam & Joel, bravo for a very fun puzzle that was fresh and remarkably free of crosswordy things like made-up abbreviations.
1
This is the best puzzle I've seen in a long tine -- I thoroughly enjoyed it and found the clues and fills and theme to be fresh and interesting. Kudos to Ezersky and Fagliano!
I note the constructors missed a theme opportunity with 21A: it could have been clued as
Camaro, Opel, Prius
46A was a great rediscovery -- I had forgotten that ending applied to angles in a multisided figure. In fact a goniometer (per wiki) is "an instrument for the precise measurement of angles, especially the angles between the faces of crystals." And so the term polygon really means a multi-angled figure, not so much a multi-sided figure.
Re 42A, I was thinking larnyx initially .... and me with the ear issues.
Would you use 22A to describe overindulging in udon?
Do we still have those 50D nowadays? I remember them as drawers that sprang out in a cash register when certain keys were depressed, accompanied by a bell ring.
7D is also the last name of a famous artist/cartoonist of the German impressionism art movement. At least I think he's German -- could be Polish, given the clue.
One possible quibble though -- it's very unusual to have a clue give away a flll -- as in 40D.
3
Re: C-O-P
21A ends in a singular; the themers are all plural.
Saw that afterwards. :-(
Also cop car is two words.
As Deb wrote, and confirmed by some other WPers, once I got my first themer (APOSTATES), the rest were almost automatic. Still, fun idea, if my fastest finish this week so far. NONGAY sounds a bit clunky to me.
My favorite high-school English teacher had us adopt pennames for a series of essays. I dubbed myself Dove GRENDEL. I'll let you clever lot work out my inspiration for the name.
“And afterwords we can run AMOK! Or if you're too tired, we can walk AMOK.” —Woody Allen (as Jimmy Bond), “Casino Royale”
Do the Go-Go’s ironically qualify as DADROCK at this point? “YESORNO”?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02-DfG3LO30
WIRE were part of the vanguard of UK punk rock in the 70s. By the late 80s, they veered to a more skewed pop sound. Their 1989 single “EARDRUM Buzz,” is catchy in an off-kilter way (and now qualifies as an OLDIE, I suppose):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3fLn4FYWH0
2
JImbo, I've got a pop quiz for you (pop quiz - get it?).
Anyway - name (no googling of course) every popular song you can think of that has 'rolling stone' (or 'stones') in the lyrics. Stick to reasonably well known songs and I'll consider Dylan and the Temptations gimmes.
I'm curious about one particular song. I'm pretty sure you'll get it.
Only if you feel like it, of course.
1
My kinda pop quiz! Here's what I've got so far (including the gimmes):
Papa Was Rolling Stone--Temptations
Like a Rolling Stone--Bob Dylan
Rollin' Stone--Muddy Waters (they took the name from this one)
Daddy Rolling Stone--Otis Blackwell (covered by The Who, among others)
Cover of the Rolling Stone--Dr. Hook
Smoke on the Water--Deep Purple ("with the Rolling-truck-Stones-thing just outside," a reference to the Stones' mobile studio)
Don't Rock the Jukebox--Alan Jackson ("my heart ain't ready/for the Rolling Stones")
Life Is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)--Reunion ("Rolling Stones and centerfoldin'")
1977--The Clash ("no Elvis, Beatles, Rolling Stones/in 1977")
Partial credit: All the Young Dudes--Mott the Hoople ("your brother's at home with his Beatles and his Stones")
I'll leave it to you to decide if they're familiar enough. :^)
1
Borrowed Tune--Neil Young ("I'm singing this borrowed tune/I took from the Rolling Stones")
He lifted the melody from "Lady Jane."
1
The coincidence was striking when the very first answer I hit on was 35d...I did not see the initialism built into the terse, three word clues at first. That inertia of consciousness was remedied with a second cup and a re-read of the veiled oblique reveal 40d provided...There was a keen balance of the 11 newbie and OLDIE answers. X-word info reports 5 are completely new to the NYT puzzle, the rest are making a debut during the ERA of our esteemed editor Mr. Shortz...Chances ARE, when this guy is referenced in the puzzle, I'm selecting one of his works to link. The genre, and do not take it literally, falls under the heading 'mom ballads.' Written by Toronto native Michael J. Moore in the mid-70's, Johnny Mathis ELICITS what FEELS like AMORE as he sings "Yellow Roses On Her Gown."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOYnJpm8VOs
Have A NICE DAY,
Bru
2
A pleasant change of pace:
(1) After back-to-back debuts, the editors take a turn.
(2) Thursday tricks with Tuesday cluing for a Wednesday.
(3) Comments system may be feeling better (knock on laminate).
Have a 26A.
2
Once I figured out the trick it became one of the easiest Wednesday puzzles.
1
OooooKAY. Back from a journey across the West to Silicon Valley for An Important Family Event! This meant a large stack of puzzles to solve while we endeavored to unpack, restock, sort, and quickly re-enter our Regularly Scheduled Lives.
This one certainly took me for a ride (MAD KINGS?) and I never understood why I got the Green Screen of Solvitude until I came to WordPlay....(Thanks, Deb.).
I've missed all of you, and I hope to return to a semblance of normalcy soon. We drove 2000 miles in 4 days--something we don't expect to repeat; it was pretty daunting for us Seventy-somethings.
6
woohoo it's MOL
3
Hey, MOL.
Since I read Oldest first, I didn't see your posts before I inquired about your absence. I'm glad to see that you're back, and that you apparently survived a trip that sounds to me like an absolute horror.
Be strong, and welcome back.
1
As I was checking the grid after receiving the “Almost There” message, I found that I had PEpE for 9a. That left me with pANAMOK as a cross. Which might have been a pretty good entry if the clue for 11d had been “Trump’s foreign policy”.
3
Well, I'm glad you boys enjoyed working together as I hope to see more. Quite a different sort of theme, good for a Wednesday as it is not too tricky, but offers up a fun AHA moment. As Deb said there were enough fills one had to think about to make up for the fact that once one had the theme the rest of the answers fell fairly quickly.
The great week continues.
3
I am embarrassed to say that although I got all of the theme answers with the crosses, I did not get the theme until I came to the blog - I guess I was just looking for something more complicated. I got stuck in the top middle. Had SWEET and then JUICY before TANGY. Needed a look up to find XENON and it took a while for RAZOR to come to me. Anyway, I made it a more difficult than usual Wednesday. We'll see what Thursday brings.
Speaking of BANDS, I do believe that today we are witnessing the formation of the McCartney/Lennon writing team of Crossworld.
Getting the totally original theme today was one of the best aha moments ever!
8
I prefer Simon and Garfunkel ....
:-)
1
Elton John and Bernie Taupin?
Frick and Frack, the Tappet brothers?
After a day of raking leaves and other yard work (including adjusting the: Keep your kids of my lawn and No one is welcome here signs) I stopped by The Goat (a curmudgeon bar across the river in Taylors Falls, MN). The music system was playing Steely Dan's Mickey Don't Lose That Number. I asked the bartender if he could turn up the geezer rock....
That seemingly disconnected event set the stage for this puzzle.
More synchronicity follows:
There was a time I road the train from Weston to Manhattan solving the NYT X-word. Happy to read that Joel and Sam are constructing, perhaps as they head in the other direction. And, you will be interested to note my then GF was KIM.
Nice work gentlemen. Look forward to more from this dynamic duo.
1
This Weston, dk?
1
Tee hee....you 'road' the train! Rail-y?
1
Commuting by train from WestON, dk, I assume you rode the New Haven from WestPORT? Joel and Sam are on the Harlem to Pleasantville.
(ALL ABOARD)
3
I loved this puzzle--it's the first time I figured out the theme completely on my own, and I solved with really minimal lookups. I figured something was up when I saw M_ _ _
K_ _ _ S and realized KINGS fit, but what the heck was a 3-letter descriptor?? Finally got it with DIATRIBES and from there it was smooth sailing...
...*except* for crossing an ancient Egyptian god either the periodic table!! That's where I sat running through the alphabet. Impossible. Peeked at the table, and got the vowel from XE.
Oh and I had to check my spelling for GROSZy although I knew it was right--just forgot that it's plural!
1
Quite enjoyable puzzle. Somewhat mixed feelings on the theme, as it went from completely baffling to fill-in-the-blanks once the first themer became evident from the crosses (for me that was HUSBANDS). Still thought the earlier bafflement made it worthwhile. Also a lot of other nice fill and very little junk. I, for one, really liked the ONEDOWN clue - thought it was a nice touch.
Did get stuck for a bit in the mid-north. My first thought for 14a was "That's Life." I knew that wasn't Martin, but somehow that served as a stop sign for my memory beyond that. Also a couple of other memory lapses up there (AMENRA) and XENON and GROSZ contributed. My memory did finally decide to participate and I worked it all out.
While all of that was happening, "That's Life" was playing in my brain. One of my all-time favorite lyrics is: "I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet; a pawn and a king." And I was thinking - gee, that might make a neat theme. You know, maybe... PINOCCHIO, OLIVERTWIST, etc. etc.. But I guess at this point in time that would be a 'granddad' puzzle so I'm sure it won't ever happen.
Lastly, I'll use 26a as an excuse to (re)link one of my very favorite songs. Bill Withers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYi7uEvEEmk
I remember that our own dear Jane really liked that song when I first linked it some years ago. Glad she checked in recently but still miss her. Hope everybody has a lovely day.
2
Hee hee a good little moment from Modern Family:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir2Ej8-ylrc
3
A bit of an international mini-theme, with Norway, Ghana, Japan and Poland represented. Does anyone do SUMO in the U.S.?
Nice toothy puzzle. Before long we'll be listening to GRANDDADROCK.
3
Yes on American-born sumo wrestlers. Hawaii has produced some famous ones. Akebono (Chadwick Haheo Rowan), a Japanese-American, became a Grand Champion. Konishiki, a Samoan born in Hawaii, and Takamiyama, a Hawaiian — both quite famous.
I happily filled in the second halves of the themers, confident that something would click. It happened at 51A, when the crosses gave me HUS------- before the second half, and it all came clear. A lovely moment. Really lovely.
7
Parked snugly in my wheelhouse, I guess, this one. Cluing felt easy for Wednesday. Yet it was an enjoyable ride, with that cute word-playing theme, nice clue for PAROLE, and lovely answer ENTROPY. I also love just looking at GROSZ and ROSSSEA. Had COPCAR been plural, it could have been a themer; also, it would have been icing on the cake if LEADOFF did. Quality construction, as I gratefully expect from these two.
Plaudits and a bouquet of Cuba, Austria, Romania for this fun solve!
1
That is, carnations...
3
Lewis, do you have a white sports coat to go with those pink (in one case, red) car nations?
Now *there's* some geezer rock!
GROSZ had me running the alphabet. I guess RAZORS that dull even with some POLISH.
4
This puzzle was easier for me than most Wednesdays, mainly because the theme was obvious and – once spotted ¬– allowed all of the themers to be filled at sight. My few unknowns (TAKEI, DAD ROCK, ENDOR – as clued) came out easily without look=ups.
I did enjoy the solve, however. It was a pleasure to encounter entries like XENON, ISOGON, ARS NOVA, ENTROPY, GRENDEL. I liked GROSZ and ENDOR too, but would have clued them respectively as “German painter George” and – for the benefit of solvers fed up with Star Wars references “Home of a witch”.
4
FagliANO and EzerSKY!! (in order of byline)
Can't hardly think how to form A MORE perfect union.
4
I agree that the NONGAY doesn’t quite work (I had NOTGAY in there first), but I thought the theme fills were clever. Unfortunately, the theme clues end up being giveaways (states, kings, bands, tribes) even though it is fun to get that “Oh!” moment. I just wanted more of a challenge.
I like the chewy ENTROPY and ELICITS, as well as APOSTATES. Those make up for ENDOR (Star Wars again).
quibbles: I don't think of mangos or kiwis as TANGY. Their pretty sweet, in fact. And I thought the clue for 40D was just silly.
3
While I like kiwis, I agree they aren't particularly TANGY. I find mangos too sweet to eat, so again, where's the TANG?
2
and Elke
When I got ENTROPY , I was expecting Maxwell's demon to RuN AMOK through the puzzle......
After filling in the SE, I stared at HUSBANDS and the clue for a long time- they can be 'heart slayers' but U2 too?? And then - BANDS popped up. And the rest became CLEAR. NICE .
Was unsure about GROS? until RAZORS.
TIL that DADROCK is a genre like ARS NOVA ? Think I will stick to an OLDIE like AMORE.
Always like seeing ROSS SEA because of the three esses. And POINT was cute.
This was novel and fun.
Have a NICE DAY tomorrow.
1
When you vitamins seem to be
Mostly B, C and D
Take some more A
3
One quibble - the Ewoks live on the moon that orbits Endor. Endor is not the name of the moon itself.
1
A quick look at various Star Wars wikis shows this is a matter of some dispute. One says both the planet and the moon are named Endor. One says the planet is Endor and the moon is nameless. Another says the moon is Endor and the name of the planet is unmentioned. A fourt simply quotes the film’s ambiguous reference to “the forest moon of Endor.”
3
Took longer than it should have because I wanted DADNECK instead of DADROCK. Very fun once the pattern clicked.
Is a DADNECK the male version of a mature woman’s chicken neck?
4
The Wednesdays are getting better, this one was a gem.
Loved 40D clue and answer.
The only answer I can figure goes with today's picture is 26A.
3
How about DRINKER and SOUSE?
and Elke
Wags- how about 31 A- CLEAR SKY ?
2
I’m going with CLEARSKY X NICEDAY.
Cute Wednesday with a little bite to it, catching on to the theme helped move it along eventually.
Very unusual including Polish grosz any day of the week, let alone Wednesday. I don't expect many will find that one without a lookup. I've spent time in Poland and had to dredge it up from deep cellars of the brain.
0.9 (tangy!)
I decided to post this as an internal reply, so people either read it or not...
I've been puzzling since last night about "non-gay" as a fill for "hetero", and haven't come to any real landing place. But I've expressed the opinion before in these pages, based on earlier clues/fill, that the world that defines "hetero" as "normal" and possibly "only acceptable" or "only legal" or "only what God intended" - that world binds everyone else - every other person in the world - into a community, the non-hetero community. The solidarity of that community is built on the mutual and continuous hate and exclusion expressed in real life and in law by the heteronormative community (sorry about last night's results, by the way, but that's the way the cookie crumbles...)
That's why the initialism LGBTQAI etc. keeps growing - because more and more of us have stood up and said, "um, yeah, but not me."
The only non- that makes sense in today's culture is "non-hetero" because the laws are still made by the heteronormative folks who decide that transgender people don't belong, gay and lesbian people don't have rights, and non-hetero-conforming people need to toe the line or else. I won't call my straight friends "non-gay" and I don't have to think of them as "anti-gay" - but I sure as h-e-double-hockey-sticks understand myself as "non-hetero."
6
David, I agree with you. I hate that clue-fill pairing more than I can express here. It’s wrong, factually and otherwise. Full stop. I decided I have to pick my battles here, though, and that this is one I am not going to win. Maybe you can convince the “boss” to see this from a different perspective.
(Along with the reasons you give, we need to remember that human sexuality is not split between groups A and B. We all fall somewhere on the scale of A to Z.)
2
No argument about the imprecision of the clue. (I suspect editor and constuctors wouldn't argue either.)
My question is whether the entry should be banned, and the puzzle rewritten or maybe rejected? I suspect it would be really tough to clue NONGAY in a fully satisfying way. "Straight or LBTAQI..." is pretty cumbersome and doesn't solve the problem. Is L NONGAY? Is Q?
Can NONGAY be clued?
1
Arlington Puzzle Festival #3, 5:47. Theme was not at all easy for me, I figured out the end of each entry from the category, but it was only after I raised my hand that the H-U-S for BANDS clicked in my head. Such often happens when solving for speed, that the appreciation of such a brilliant theme has to wait for later.
On same wavelength as Deb, I had both KNEECAP and NOT GAY initially. Those were the only erasures besides PRINT (instead of POINT) for digitally identify (thinking fingerprinting...).
For once I got 1A and ONE DOWN right off the bat, and other entries like GHANA, ISOGON, ENTROPY, LPGA TOUR, and ROSS SEA were right up my alley, helped make up for my obtuseness on the theme. Third straight day for Star Wars clue. My son can name individual Ewoks on ENDOR, but I tap out at Wikkit (sp?).
One of the really fun aspects of this tournament is you get to discuss the puzzles right away with a great group of solvers. I'm always surprised by what's second nature to me (like GRENDEL, even though I've never actually read Beowulf!) that's tricky for other solvers, and vice versa.
Stay tuned for the finals tomorrow....
5
1 for PRINT. PLRP!
I had KNEECAP before KNEEPAD, until I realized that the patella IS the KNEECAP, so its protector had to be something else.
4
The tournament sounds like a lot of fun, PJB. The chatting with other solvers afterward, not the speed-solving part.
Good luck for the rest.
once I got the theme it was very easy just to fill in the first initials. went very fast. I remember hearing "that's AMORE" many many times in my childhood. We thought it was hilarious. "When the moon hits the sky like a big pizza pie! That's AMORE"
2
Judy, the moon hits your eye. If it hit the sky, that would indeed be hilarious. Here are more of the lyrics:
When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie
That's amore
When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine
That's amore
Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling
And you'll sing "Vita bella"
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay
Like a gay tarantella
When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool
That's amore
When you dance down the street with a cloud at your feet
You're in love
When you walk in a dream but you know you're not dreaming signore
Scuzza me, but you see, back in old Napoli
That's amore
7
When a fish bites your heel,
And it looks like an eel,
That’s a moray.
When you’re down by the sea,
And an eel bits your knee,
That’s a moray.
Too easy!!
20
Now Steve, THAT will keep me giggling all day and remembering the original clue and thus the puzzle and the need for a KNEE PAD to protect one's knee cap. And now I can't get the stupid tune out of my head and "That's An-noy-ing"
4