Agree, needs initial warning/explanation. Otherwise simply frustrating.
This is my first time ever encountering a rebus...I really would have appreciated some sort of pop up or big blaring notice that explains what a rebus is and that there is one in the puzzle. I gave up when none of the actors' names were fitting, only to find out that I was supposed to somehow know to put multiple letters in the same box??
1
They confused me at first as well. Great guidance here: https://www.nytimes.com/guides/crosswords/how-to-solve-a-crossword-puzzle
1
You never forget your first successful rebus, and Eartha Kitt, you were mine. After so many struggles with rebuses (rebi?) on the app, I have learned today how much easier they are do to on paper, especially when you have such a very odd group of actors. I had to cheat once and only once on this puzzle, which is a real miracle for me. (Curse you, Mr. Platt and your wretched liver). But still, I sleep well knowing tonight that I am one step closer to a cheat-free puzzle one day. Soon you will be mine, my pretty. And oh how I shall blog about it! Well done Laura on your debut. I tip my opera hat to you.
7
41 DOWN "Where I-20, I-65 and I-85 all meet." is incorrect.
I grew up in Atlanta and I-65 doesn't come any where near it, one state over in fact. I-75 does come through Atlanta however as do I-20 and I-85.
3
The clue is incorrect. As a 40 year resident of Atlanta, I can say with certainty that I-65 does NOT pass through the city ... I-75 does, however.
Indeed. I solved the crossword at home, which is about 3,500 feet from the convergence of I-20, I-75, and I-85, and about 140 miles due east of I-65 at its closest. I understand from one of the constructors that this was not their original clue, which was replaced in editing.
Right. First factual error I’ve seen in NYT puzzle.
The app is badly misprogrammed. I had to put in some partial rebus answers to get credit for solving.
Nice Sunday puzzle. Rebuses don't annoy me (just the name) Once you know they're in play, the puzzle gets easier, because (knock on wood) the answers have to be reasonably accessible for the puzzle to be doable. Old rock bands, on the other hand . . . .
That I-65 / I-75 business, however, if the comments are accurate, seems like a real lapse. Could just be a typo.
Still an impressive premier, though.
1
Finally! A realist who notes that a 6 vs 7 keystroke could have been a simple typo.
I suspect the slew of error messages OPERAted on tHAT beguiling pleasure of catching the NYT xword in an outright mistake. There, but rare.
Bonus clip (because when's the next time POCKY is gonna appear in the puzzle?)--"Hey POCKY A-Way" by New Orleans group the Meters, who later morphed into the Neville Brothers. (The song was covered by the Grateful Dead, under the title "Hey POCKY Way").
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3qhMu8aBU4
4
As I think others have pointed out, it seems like cheating to me when the set of rebus clues are supposed to be actors in bit parts when they involve, one, leading parts (Washington, Leguizamo) or, two, ensemble casts in which all actors have bit parts (Cheadle, Philippe).
Very disappointed.
Uh, I think it's because only bits of their names are being used?
2
It’s because the bit parts that are “missing” from the words spell out body parts. They gave up “bits” (of their names) to spell (body) parts.
I told myself that the next time the NYT gave us a rebus puzzle, I'd cancel my subscription. Why do you take the joy out of crossword puzzle solving by including rebus clues? A crossword puzzle requires only one letter per square, or it becomes something else, but not a crossword puzzle. I love the challenge of the NYT puzzle, but the rebus ruins it for me, especially when you do it with such obscure clues (actors no one has ever heard of). Maybe you could relegate the rebus to only Thursday puzzles (where they frequently appear) and that way I could just skip the Thursday puzzle altogether and avoid the rebuses. I'd really love to hear from the editor on this issue.
2
Love rebus puzzles and enjoyed this one enormously. Got the theme concept with ROOKIE YEAR and MICHELLE YEOH. Have seen most of the films and was impressed with the variety of actors from different genres and eras. Well done!
2
It's been a long sad day here, so I haven't been able to read the comments. In fact, I just got to the puzzle. Thought it was fun. Tried to convince myself that the rebus in ROOKIE YEAR was the second EAR. Because we have two! Thank goodness I saw the error with my EYE.
We had to let my little avatar go today. Missed his 13.5 birthday by four days. He couldn't have been more loved. I think I will keep my avatar photo for a while.
5
I'm so very sorry for your loss, CS. I've recently been through the loss of a beloved pet as well.
My twitter avatar and phone home screen is still our little fella, and it will stay that way. I find it comforting.
Take care, and take comfort in the fact that you were able to give him a joyful and loving home. He was a beautiful boy.
2
Thank you for your kind thoughts Rebekkah and my sympathy to you. I keep telling myself that we were very lucky to have him and sadness is inevitable. Thank you again for reaching out.
2
So sorry to hear that, CS. It's so hard. I kept my avatar picture as my beloved OJ for a couple of years after he passed before I finally changed it to my other main dog.
OJ used to help me with the puzzle.
2
I'm sure I've never seen so many corrections to a clue since I've joined the blog, so am wondering if we will actually see a correction or explanation. Somehow I doubt it, but would loved to be proved wrong.
1
As I said below, it was nice to see several new commenters on the blog.
But I hope that some of them will also start reading the other comments.
3
My kinda puzzle. Like most, I caught on with (EAR)THAKITT. Figured out at least half the themers from the movie titles. OTOH, "Traffic" and "Crash" both have big ensemble casts, so needed plenty of helpful crosses for those. Again like most, O(LIVER)PLATT was last to fall. Might've been a different story if the clue referenced some other movie. I was mesmerized by MICHELL(EYE)OEH in "Crouching Tiger." Never heard of PORKADOBO, but knew ZONE wouldn't appear twice in the grid.
Less SALTCOD, more PASTRIES for me, please.
So, I take it there's some problem with the clue for 41D? While we wait for a correction, let's listen to Little Feat play "Oh ATLANTA":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyyq_Mye6so
4
I hate the multiple letters within a square. Really. Really hate them.
Then you really aren't going to enjoy rebuses.
8
I always print out the puzzle so on Sunday the squares are really small. Makes a rebus a challenge!
The “bit parts” pun doesn’t really work for actors who have the leading or, in one case, title role.
It does actually. The clue reads, "What eight actors took on for this puzzle?", implying that they may not normally have been bit part players.
2
Not their roles. The actor's names contain the parts... as in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTzLVIc-O5E
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoRLIJJSG4o
I read it as each actor's name in this puzzle contains a "bit" (tiny letter squeezed into one square, therefore "bit" as in "bitty") "part" (as in part of the body).
1
Oops... the highways that meet in Atlanta are I85, I20 and I75... not I65! I was really struggling until I saw the crosses and it became evident. Online boo-boo.
1
I thought this was a fine puzzle, even though actors' names are not in my wheelhouse. But it had rebuses, which more than makes up for the actors in my book. I love rebus crosswords and don't see enough of them. I think I'm in a minority on this blog, but I don't mind. I love the added challenge and thought it was nicely implemented in this puzzle.
Than k s for a fun solve.
9
Perhaps a minority, Mac, but a good bunch of us enjoy the rebus puzzles.
6
Rebus puzzles are my FAVOURITE!! I don't want to do them every day, but I get so excited when one shows up :D
4
About the rebus puzzles - in the Words of the Year - MeToo.
4
I too am not that proficient with actors' names. Fortunately EARTHA KITT fell into place early on, so the rebus theme was quickly understood. I then ended up determining the actors' names through the rebus in the down clues. (ALLEGE, ROOKIE YEAR, and HELIPORTS). Suddenly I had three or four consecutive letters of the actors' names. DENZEL WASHINGTON was really the only one I got the right way. I got held up at the very end because for some reason I was convinced it was ELSA mANCHESTER. That really made me MAD!
1
I loved this puzzle's concept - but agree that a few of the actors were really obscure . For my son and I ( and he's 23 ! ) John Leguizamo was a total unknown . The doctor in me would like to comment that LIVER is an organ , not really ever referred to as a body part - like leg, ear , eye and chest - let alone shin !
LIVER is also the only internal "body part" in the theme, so it seemed kind of out of place to me.
Good point! This stumped me. I didn't know the actor, opera hat isn't a thing so I figured that was where the rebus was, and, yes, liver isn't a body part like the others.
First of all I want to say that I thought this was amazing construction. What a debut!
At first I thought I might actually solve a Sunday puzzle with no help as I got EARTHA KITT early, then confirmed by ELSA LANCHESTER. Sadly the only actor I recognized after that was DENZEL WASHINGTON. I gather this was the case, or close to it for quite a few others. Still I loved it, remain a keen rebus fan, and found a lot to like today. One of my favourites ( I'll leave the U in that word) was the clue for TEPEE at 108D.
4
I think I should get some kind of an award, because I tumbled to the theme (well, to most of it) before I got any of the actual themers!
I'd filled in most of NW, including KISSCAM and even LEEANN but had no idea who was in "Traffic. Continued to 27D and entered "ADVOCATE," only to see that it didn't work with the two short As. But the "THE" popped into my HEAD quite quickly, telling me I was working with a rebus of body parts. DON CHEADLE and EARTHA KIDD (for whom always Hooray!), added that the body parts were in actors. Very nice.
Still, it was difficult, because I see so few movies, and don't pay much attention to the ads that tell me who's in what. ELSA LANCHESTER was a gimme, and DENZEL WASHINGTON almost was. Never heard of MICHELLE YEOH. Did the common stumbling around OLIVER PLATT; I thought his first name was ED, which seriously doesn't work. Think I may have heard of RYAN PHILLIPPE because I feel as if it should have only one L.
Also confused by OTTER. I thought Hermione was part of Harry's posse. Forget about NARUTO (and the various body parts I tried to squeeze into it), and POCKY. Only got PORK ADOBO because I always see the ADOBO spice mix in the grocery store.
Here's a seasonal offering from 25A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFMyF9fDKzE
4
Sorry for all the typos.
Dizzy day.
The OTTER is the spirit guide animal (patronus) that protects Hermione. Each character has a different spirit guide animal that appears when the patronus spell is worked.
I saw Coco this weekend (and highly recommend it). In it, there are alebrijes (Mexican spirit guide fantastical animals). I found the information in the wikipedia article on the alebrijes very interesting - a national folk art tradition with roots in the visions of one man in the 1930s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alebrije
2
A very enjoyable, impressive Sunday puzzle (hat tip to Laura's debut). Saw the rebus early on, knew the actors (albeit with spelling challenges), completed the puzzle in good time, and then spent an eternity sussing out one errant letter. It was in 37D: both ZONE OUT (sorta) and ZONK OUT fit the clue.
4
Two bad errors:
44D. An ION is not a particle, as clued. An ION is an atom, which comprises particles like protons, neutrons, and electrons.
41D: As already noted, Interstate 65 does not go through or near ATLANTA (or even through Georgia, for that matter).
Particle is a general term. I learned in school that an ION is a CHARGED particle, which, as you say, is an atom that comprises SUBATOMIC particles like protons, neutrons and electrons. You could also say things like soot and dust are particles. So I don't think that's an error.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle
3
Figured out the rebus pretty quickly but never heard of Oliver Platt so ultimately had to cheat to finish...Also, got hung up for a while on the “I-65” error but finally had to go with Atlanta which this GA girl knew was Wrong.. Otherwise-fun puzzle!
1
Stalled for a time at 28A when I misread the clue as “pro bowler” and could not come up with the last name of an outstanding kegler named John ...
6
Didn't snap to this until I read your comment ... though I did think the name John Elway seemed awfully familiar for a bowler. Moral: watch those caps.
I believe there was an error in the clue for 41 down. The clue is: where I-65, I-20, and I-85 all meet. The answer is Atlanta, but I-65 doesn't go any where near Atlanta. It runs from Southern Alabama to Indianapolis. Perhaps the clue was suppose to include I-75 instead, which does meet the other two in Atlanta.
1
"It runs from Southern Alabama to Indianapolis."
...and on to Gary. From I-10 on Mobile Bay to I-90 on Lake Michigan.
I understand that 1-65 goes beyond Indianapolis, but my point was that it goes no where near Atlanta. They clearly meant 1-75. I only got the right answer because it was clear from the across clues that the answer had to be Atlanta.
Sorry, I thought you were giving driving directions. The mistake in the puzzle had been pointed out half a day earlier.
1
Alas, I fell at the finish line--ORPL TT....I guessed the A, but could not come up with a body part--too many to choose from, and no real coherent organization, with a couple of sensory organs, some 'portmanteau' body parts (HEAD, CHEST) and then a couple of orthopedic references (LEG, SHIN)....and O LIVER PLATT is not on my RADAR (LIVE RADAR sounding redundant to me)....so, a Fail for me today. That said, I enjoyed the solve otherwise.
Neglected the Saturday Stumper yesterday, so perhaps there will be some redemption for me, after all.
2
I do dislike rebuses. That said, the puzzle was cleverly constructed and challenging to a point just short of frustration--in other words, just about right!
1
I suppose that Michael Bowen could have elbowed his way into this puzzle.
7
My first ever rebus solve! After being baffled over and over, I caught myself thinking, “Gee, the answer I was thinking of is too long” just one time too many for me not to realize that a rebus must be involved. It helped immensely that I know a wide range of movies and actors.
8
Great puzzle! Denzel Washington was my "aha" clue for the rebus, but I had to google most of the other movies to identify the appropriate body part names. I struggled with the "radar" problem for a while also, but was able to figure it out and keep my gold star streak alive for one more day. I can't imagine how one would go about designing a puzzle like this -- there must be some black magic involved. Laura and Erik obviously have powerful patronuses . (patronusi?)
2
41-Down should ask where I-20, I-75 and I-85 meet, because I-65 goes through Alabama, not Georgia. The answer is ATLANTA, and I-65 passes about 150 miles west of Atlanta.
10
My solve died for lack of a timely LIVER transplant.
14
I'll finish the puzzle later, after church. Just in case people are puzzling over one of the short answers, I'll comment later when it's my turn up at the plate.
Finished solving faster than I thought I would. Only goof was ORPLATT at 102A. Drew a blank on the actor's first name, and it was an unfortunate coincidence that RADAR fit perfectly by itself. Haven't looked at the comments yet, but my first comment referred to 59A, in case anyone's wondering.
That was fun. Like others, I caught on with EARTHAKITT, even though I don't really remember her in 'Batman.' Remembered ELSALANCHESTER with just a brief moment of pondering - DONCHEADLE took a bit longer. Even though I'm a big fan of his and have seen that movie, I just couldn't recall it at first.
MICHELLEYEOH was another gimme, though I thought of WIE at first. A pause there as ROOKIEY(EAR) also worked (two EARs? Why not?). Had to work a couple of nearby crosses to finally remember the correct name.
I didn't know either LEGUIZAMO or PHILLIPPE from those films, but did know the names and worked those out from the crosses. And so gradually worked out everything until I was left staring at square 103. I've seen the actor in films, but couldn't recall his name. Knew 103d had to be something RADAR, but couldn't think of what. Tried to think of body parts ending in 'R' (instead of names starting with 'O') and it wasn't getting me anywhere. In the meantime I had the local news on in the background and I can almost guarantee that somebody said 'Live Radar' at some point and I wasn't listening. Finally looked up the film. So close.
There are a few movies that I will watch any time they're on. 'Crouching Tiger' is one, in no small part because of Ms. YEOH. But one of my very (very) favorites features both of the actors at 31a and 65a. It almost shares a title with this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXy7qYAKrfc
Congratulations on a fine debut, Ms. Braunstein.
2
YEOw. Like I don't hear that enough at every Dook basketball game.
o/w agree with your 31/65A choices.
Never understood why they didn't make more Walter Mosley/East Rawlings movies. Seems like they were perfectly cast in that.
3
I agree with you on that, Old Dad. I don't understand it either. Easy and Mouse were one of the great film pairings of all time.
I've been gradually reading through Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series and there is plenty of good material there. 'A Little Yellow Dog' would be one good candidate for a sequel (restricting it to those in which Mouse appears).
It seems rare for such a blatant error as 41-Down to make it into publication in a New York Times crossword puzzle. I had a bad feeling it had to be ATLANTA as ALABAMA just wasn’t working (and isn’t really correct, either). Any comment from the authors or Will on how this slipped through?
11
Enjoyed a great visit to Atlanta last week!
Good pick up on the erroneous clue - I assume they meant I-75, not I-65?
2
I was contemplating putting "NOWHERE" which aptly describes the place where those three roads intercept.
Thanks for Charley JANE's observation, Laura. Surprise does seem to be a magic ingredient, and it seemed TO ME I was tripping on it (so to speak) all over the grid.
[EAR]THA KITT always did do it for me, and did it again today. Rebus-recognition led me to change the unsatisfactory DON_CoLE (you should never settle!) to the desired C[HEAD]LE. Fun to hunt the body parts, and perhaps an ultrasound would have made that O LIVER PLATTEr less opaque. Of course, only a movie about cannibals would leave one with all those BIT PARTS.
Missing any PARTs?
Hard to Cary off, Granted, but maybe ARCHibald Leach?
Roles that actors played, like Neil ARMStrong and IRIS Murdoch
LASH LaRue, who taught Harrison Ford what to do with a bullwhip for the Indiana Jones movie.
A movie co-starring MichellE YEow and LASH LaRue, maybe with mass Carradines...
If only CHIP OLIVER were better known for "All in the Family", we coulda had a double HEADer.
In a somewhat more juggular vein: of all the MEGASTAR men currently being brought low, wondering which one would be the NECKerchief? Curious about ambient thoughts on the topic...
Good theme, clues, and fill. Enjoyed turning up the BONSAI (seen in Raleigh's Art in Bloom exhibit last summer) and the H-E double POCKY sticks (introduced to me by one of my very talented ex-nieces-in-law).
All very URBANe, is what I'm SEINE. Laurels to Laura, and a gardenia to the other guy.
6
Thanks for MEGASTAR! I got super stuck on that one. I knew DON CHEADLE and I knew it was ADVOCATE, but the crossing wouldnt fit. Started thinking there was some crazy rebus rule where you could just use the last letter of the across rebus word -just the ‘D’ in HEAD for the ‘D’ in ADVOCATE.
Didnt ever occur to me that THE ADVOCATE would work.
Also, these was the first sunday puzzle I was able to make a significant dent in before coming to the article for a little help.
3
Folks of a certain age will remember Cousin O LIVER,
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CousinOliver
1
Congratulations on the debut, Laura, and enjoy this day!
There were lots of easy footholds (most of the fill-n-the-blanks, i.e.) to counter the tough and obscure answers. I think the reason there were some lesser-known actors (as some have said here) is that there aren't many famous ones with body parts imbedded in their names; I say that after I tried to come up with some. I came up with the too-non-specific mORGAN freeman (before I read Caitlin's blog) and BUSTer keaton, and I love Laura's Jim BACKus. Maybe someone here will do better.
POCKY and NARUTO, both from Japan, seem to be big deals based on their Google hits. Very nice clue for TEPEE. Excellent puzzle title as well. And I like the ZAP, BONG, and ZONK. Aside from the SE, this was a relatively smooth sail. And a great idea for a theme.
A Sunday crossword is especially sweet in a warm room when the view outside the window is the familiar terrain blanketed in snow.
1
Fortunately, I found JameS KINcaid, who acted in the Phil Silvers Show. Previously unknown to me, but I lucked out searching on "actor Kincaid" with SKIN in mind.
I did this puzzle last night between holiday party number two and number three; two more today. Not an introverts idea of a great weekend.
4
I recognized the rebus theme faster than usual when I saw EARTHA KITT partially submerged. And some hours later as I was still working the puzzle marveling at the constructors’ verve in filling the crossings with gems like ALLEG, RICHEST, LIVE RADAR. Kudos to them.
Today is my 30th anniversary with my dear wife. And our date was completely ruined by this crossword.
At supper, Mrs. CrossNerd noticed I had barely touched my chicken fingers and chocolate milk and asked what was wrong. I told her about the grievous oversight in today’s puzzle with Atlanta interstate numbers. She tried to console me but it was no use. Some errors are unforgivable.
Luckily, we managed to get tickets to an unexpected revival of The Emoji Movie. But our joy was short lived. After the movie, she noticed I had barely touched my candy floss and Fruitopia and asked what was wrong. I told her how the constructor of today’s puzzle insensitively incorporated actors I didn’t like into the theme. By this point, the evening was irreparable, and I was incensed, like a Polish croupier.
Advice for new puzzle constructors: If one insists on using pop culture references, it would be prudent to limit your references to actors that EVERYBODY likes. For example, Jim Carrey or Drew Carey.
Thanks for the puzzle.
10
I can understand your predilection for the Canadian-born Jim Carrey, but You also Drew Carey, who's a CLE guy.
You seem to be burdened with some CarryOn baggage, like an Ecuadorian vulture.
6
Hoo boy! Give me a sec to compose myself from laughing so hard...there we go. Didn't think I'd recover from the Polish croupier comment.
You may think of this as satire, but you are a troll. Please pack up all your stuff here and just...take it all away.
One thing I abhor about trolls is the anonymity. Notice my info has a full name, a town and state. Should I say something stupid and out of line, a person could contact me directly should they choose. You want to make fun of people here? Put your name on it.
2
Oh, CrossNerd!!
Salsa without jalapeños is just tomato sauce. You do you, man. You make me smile every single day :D
2
Re: Sunday Mini, 7-across
The #metoo movement did not "originate" with the Weinstein scandal:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/us/me-too-movement-tarana-burke.ht...
3
Wonderful puzzle and a just about perfect rebus. What a great challenge and great fun!
3
This might be the first time I've finished a Sunday puzzle in just over thirty minutes without googling or "puzzle checking" at all. In the end I only had one letter wrong from a misspelling that I quickly found
2
Got stuck for a while with OSCARPLATT and SCARADAR (it's a thing --look it up. I had to look up Nixon/Frost to find Oliver. I thought SCAR was a bit of a stretch for body part . . .
3
OLIVER Platt? LIVE radar?
1
David: ironically, Oliver Platt currently stars in a drama: Chicago Med.
2
I recognized him from 'West Wing' (which I watched last year on the treadmill, day by day, all 17 seasons. Tookl For Ever.)...but I never knew his name until I had to Google the cast of 'Frost/Nixon' and take a Fail .....
2
Good Sunday puzzle. Got the theme early with ROOKIE YEAR. It was harder bed=cause many of the proper names had to be obtained with crosses. Hard to see at first where the body part went. Liked ELSA LANCHESTER best!
2
Really enjoyed this. Was never much of a rebus fan - mostly because I couldn't figure out how to cram all the little letters into the square on my computer. Then I recently discovered the little "Rebus" tab - imagine my surprise! Once I got going it really flowed - I had at least heard of the actors even though I had no idea what some of their movies were. Great theme. Nice debut! Grats!
5
Like some others, I find an actor-based puzzle challenging because it's simply a world I don't know well. My deceased wife knew science, movies and rock music which complemented my classical music and general humanities knowledge. As a team we did quite well. When I come up against the puzzle like this I miss her.
19
and Elke
Congrats to Laura B. (and Erik A.) on a debut with a kick-*ss rebus puzzle on Sunday to boot.
Started by trying to fit POTUS hands into 1D: size measured in picometers.
Only discovered the rebus with ROOKIE YEAR, and took another while to realize it was all kinds of body-parts.
Did not feel too good, maybe something I ATE : what with RICHEST PASTRIES, POCKY, SALT COD, TACOS(TAND), LIVER(PLATT), PORK ADOBO all washed down with (HE)ALE(R)......
On the other hand, MOODS can be changed with a BONG filled with DOSES of MOIRA JANE. ZONKed out comes to mind.
Great clue : 52D ''pot holder''.
I'll STOP now, bon SOIR.
7
Had to laugh at your MOIRA JANE. In grad school, we built a BONG with a 500 ml Erlenmeyer flask, a ceramic filter cup and an array of glass and amber tubing, but it was no "pot holder". It burned the Cherry Blend the very URBANe ACVIII used in his pipe at the time.
Lord ZONKer, otoh...
4
I'm with you n 52D as long as you don't use a bong and then try to use the bong to remove a hot dish from the oven.
2
What Leapy said re: MOIRA JANE.
I'm also of an age to remember the progression from joints to pipes to BONGS with the emergence of head shops along the way. And let's not forget Alice B. Toklas (or Humphrey BOGART).
1
41 down is incorrect. I-65 passes through Birmingham, Alabama, not through Atlanta. I-75 meets I-20 in Atlanta and at that point I-75 and I-85 are the same highway, the Downtown Connector
7
Atlanta road report #3.
I wonder how many we'll have by tomorrow afternoon?
2
We take our parking lots, I mean highways very seriously. ;)
1
Oh, I know that! I spent a couple of months at Fort McPherson (in the previous century).
First time in ages that I've finished a Sunday puzzle on Saturday night. Well, not quite finished. All squares are filled in and I'm sure each rebus is correct, but no music yet. I've scoured the grid for my error(s). Isn't it funny how hard it is to find one's mistake? I'll take a look tomorrow.
I caught the rebus with ELSA LANCHESTER and was glad to start hunting for the rest of the body parts. DENZEL WASHINGTON was the only other actor I knew so I had to keep checking the movie casts in Wikipedia. Lots new here. Never heard of POKEY or NARUTO, ELWAY or TALIB.
3
Meg: Try POCKY for POKEY for the music.
(Hokey, I know)
5
I found my error! Actually, Barry, I already had POCKY in the grid; I just got it wrong in my note. No, my error turned out to be the figure 1 in front of the LIVER rebus, all six characters squeezed into the one square! It was barely visible as I went over and over my entries.
3
Some of these people and things I've never heard of or maybe only once or twice. Opera hat, for Pete's sake. Filipino recipes? I somehow got it on a last-second miracle flash of insight in my liver that saved the day but it was very close. A few even more obscure actors and body parts and I might have been had.
1
Since I don't go to movies out any more, three of the "famous" actors here (I won't admit which ones) were totally unknown to me. But I sure knew 54A. Who could forget that scene in which Elsa first casts her eyes on Boris and screams?
5
I'm with you, Wags, all the way.
No more going to nasty old movie houses with nasty young, and vocal, audiences. (Of course, since I don't have any of the various ways of seeing movies on TV, I seldom see any of them anymore.)
Luckily, "Bride of Frankenstein" is televised at least a couple of times every October. The scene you cite is one of my favorite in all of cinema. And I want the hairdo.
1
I live less than a mile from the convergence of I-20 and I-85. No I-65 here. I-75 is the highway you were thinking of.
8
Ah, how many HOURS I have spent on those 6-lane (each direction) parking lots!
6
I remember Atlanta BEFORE there were any freeways! and I-75 was first.... but it's been so long that I didn't even try to think of the highways. ATL was already in the puzzle, pretty much of a dead giveaway. Was in ATL 2 yrs ago for 50th HS reunion, and OMG the traffic was so awful that I got up at 4 on the Sunday morning in order to Get Out of Town! Made it to Pell City and the Cracker Barrel at 6 on the dot....
Ryan Phillipe? I follow the performing arts pretty closely, and never heard of him. Maybe it's just me, but the theme names should at least be recognizable.
7
I can't get my happy music, and I suspect that it's because I have ZONE as two answers. Any hints?
Just finished it. Now I can zonk out.
2
37 down? Try ZONK
3
Yo lo tengo - muchas gracias!
Great fun! I saw the trick with EARTHA KITT, but only after I'd been through the puzzle once and tried out LANCHESTER at 54A. I also tried EEK at 40A, but figured 41D had to be ATLANTA. I really liked it that they were all actors, in the BIT PARTS.
NBAMVPS is a weird-looking collection of letters, especially vertically.
One Christmas many years ago we went to Chinatown and bought an assortment of all the weird-flavored POCKY sticks for stocking stuffers. (At least, weird-flavored for basic American palates). They were met with bemusement by most of the family.
4
I too, picked up the rebus on EARTHA KITT. Figured out the gimmick by MICHELLE YEOH.
POCKY does have all kinds of weird and wonderful flavors. In Japan, that also applies to KitKats - similar in that rather than biscuit it's wafers that are coated in these flavors.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/food-cocktails/a5943374/pocky-pretz-flavors/
http://www.foodrepublic.com/2015/07/20/there-are-more-than-200-different...
I was asking myself what on EARTH was going on at 25A before I realized it was a rebus puzzle. Nice debut, Ms. Braunstein!
There's an error in the clue for 41D. "Where I-20, I-65, and I-85 all meet" can't be ATLANTA, as I-65 doesn't go through Georgia. Substitute I-75 for I-65 and then it works out just fine.
10
Darn! I was hoping that correction could wait for Rich in Atlanta. I think the editors were distracted by the Alabama special election.
8
I love our crazy town. If the editors had been paying tension to our wacky mayoral race instead of to our even wackier neighbors, they might have caught their mistake
3
Always love a rebus. Thank you. Oliver was super tricky for me — I didn’t know the actor’s first name and since all the other “parts” were ones you can see, it took a long while to get “liver.”
5
That one threw me as well, I had Oscar -- Oscar Platt is an actor, SCA radar is a thing, and a scar could be a body part.
1
K - I'm only half done, and I have to get ready to go out for some Saturday night fun, so... I just want to say REBUS!!!! Yeaaaahhhhh!! It seems like it's been way too long since we've had one!!!
I'm so happy and excited - I'll spend my entire evening waiting to get home and finish this delightful surprise :D
I will try to avoid sneaking off to the bathroom to fill in a few words, haha.
8
Does the date know they're not the reason you are so happy and excited? :)
7
Very good and clever puzzle. Since it deals with actors, I wish they could have worked in ham.
I’m used to SAVIOUR and don’t recall seeing the version without the U.
'mer'can spelling for English word. Like colour/color. . .
2
Saviour with a U is in he UK. No U in the USA. Go figure.
Not only in the UK. There's the rest of the former Commonwealth also, U know.
2
A little bit frustrating for those of us who don't know the names of actors even in movies we just finished watching...
Took a good bit longer than average for me.
7
That’s one way of putting it. Here’s another: just plain bad.
2
Like Denis, I find puzzles that rely heavily on actors' names frustrating. Unlike Nobis, I don't believe that makes them "bad." I just wish a constructor would pick a theme with which I'm more familiar--Irish whiskey, say, or 60s rock.
2
I hope you enjoyed the Beatles puzzle, Michael.
1
'Tis the season to hang a rebus on the door. I enjoyed this one, grasping it firmly by the EAR (as did our landlocked guest columnist) and shaking my way through the body of the puzzle. It took me a few extra millibars to finish, having dutifully entered a perfectly valid RADAR at 103D (cf "free gift") and not knowing that Mr. Platt's middle name was James, and not, say, Robert or Richard. Realizing that I only had seven rebi, I went: LIVEr, from New York...
3
I had the PLATT part, and remember him from Simon Burch. . . I'm a sucker for a good mentor/father-figure character.
3