I'm also mulling over in my mind the foofaraw over the SON clue, and I'm finding it hard to muster sympathy for the outrage.
Apparently, some have taken the clue to imply that just because SONs are clued to joining a family business, daughters and other females are slighted. And that's just not the case.
Would you feel the same outrage for someone crying "What about nephews? Grandsons?" Of course not, because even though they could join a family business, the clue is meant to evoke the most common trope. And it does not expressly say that other family members couldn't join. Which leads me to believe that a certain kind of, shall we say, feminist, looks for slight when there is none.
As is often said, "tree" can clue "oak," but "oak" cannot clue "tree". A clue is not a definition. The condition of the clue is not the sine qua non of the answer. Other conditions can exist that match the answer.
To further illustrate, let's look at the clue for 4D. "Popular cold and flu medication" = CONTAC. Why not Tamiflu? DayQuil? Fifty other drugs that are out there? Just because CONTAC is a cold and flu med doesn't mean there can't be others. Or 38D, "Civic-minded group" = ELKS? Does that slight the Lions? The Kiwanis? The Knights of Columbus? The DAR?
Big Sisters? The Junior League? Do you see what I'm talking about yet?
Nothing is worse than someone with an agenda who can find fault in the oddest places.
12
Hi Steve,
While I obviously agree with your general thesis, I must disagree with your last sentence. Those who insist there is no "fault" anywhere are far worse.
3
Barry, as I was writing that last sentence, I did pause for a second, and thought to myself: Nothing is worse than that? Nuclear war isn't worse? The Holocaust isn't worse? Watching that cheater Brady stage another come-from-behind win isn't worse? (OK, maybe not that one.)
But still, people who find fault where there is none are problematic. As are people who deny there is fault in any case.
Oh, wait a minute. Were you alluding to someone whose name rhymes with Ronald Stump?
5
'Nothing is worse'?.......Really?
1
"My eye" is a euphemism for "my arse". I could swear I've seen the "Rule Britannia" clue here a gazillion times! OK, five, maybe. Over 10 years.
1
Yes, I agree with you, Gloriana. That's my impression/understanding as well.
Acting the SLEUTH to uncover the last half of the puzzle's encoded message:
SEVE TROLL BACKS JOB
Please note that 'BACKS' is an IDIOM. I shall leave it to greater minds to interpret, but simply suggest the Ballesteros family 'employ' caution.
Nothing rounds out a repast like a SIDe of CAESAR. And some rum Coca Cola.
Speaking of sides, I guess I LEAN TO the left. But if Americans look North, I spose most would say the whole dang country does.
Liked this MonPuzz solve. Whenever I think of MOON, I fondly remember the I-85 north of Jupiter, FL. (Hi, archaeo!) But a super blue blood MOON? Seems even satellites have an aristocracy.
Nice puzzle! Liked the theme, good words and clues, just about perfect. Thanks!
I did today's puzzle with my 90-year-old mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's and took up crossword puzzles only a year or two ago. I'm often surprised by the ordinary facts she no longer knows (today, that a clarinet is a reed instrument), but just as often astonished by what she manages to figure out with little or no prompting; today's amazing triumph was ERE in 5D. Thanks for a delightful afternoon with mom.
9
Thanks for sharing this story, Msday.
The clue for 58A IDIOM comes to mind. What a relief after yesterday's puzzle!
On the on the moon theme, I notice there is no gibbous. However, I have no suggestions about how it could have been clued! Fun Monday (moon day).
2
"... and _____ this day (our daily bread)..."
1
Oh, Leapy that's from that prayer:
Our father Richard in heaven,
Harold be thy name.
Just 6 months since I started doing the NYTxword, and só have never done a puzzle with phases of the moon theme before! Delightful! !
3
Enjoyed the puzzle. Thought some of the comments were a bit over the top.
I was a tad disappointed to see QUARTERBACKS. Even with the TV and radio turned off all day, I still was unable to avoid mentions of football! Sheesh!
Oh, well. At least I got SID CAESAR.
Is it really Monday already?
3
Just wondering -- can you have a gibbous roll?
1
Ha ha, Dr W! Your 'gibbous ROLL' is where I should have used my reply about 'Gibbous this day our daily BREAD'
Bless all these wry little minds.
Largely FITB-easy Monday, but I appreciate any puzzle with an astronomical theme. Picking up from yesterday's discussions, back in the 70s there was an ORANGE-flavored CEREAL called Quangaroos. The cartoon mascot was an orange kangaroo named Simon, with an Aussie accent and an outback bush hat. (I've warned y'all before, my head is full of this kind of important historical info.)
In 1974, stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong reached #9 on the singles chart with the half-spoken, half-sung "EARache MY EYE" (featuring the fictional glam-rocker Alice Bowie). Popular with my high-school crowd, it doesn't hold up very well, what with the aural depiction of corporal punishment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_wUTOC-jCY
Earth's natural satellite has been the inspiration for poetry and song since time immemorial. One of my very favorite deep tracks by the Rolling Stones is the easy-rocking "MOON Is Up," from their 1994 album "Voodoo Lounge."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-woVa0ouUU
2
My father would regularly make the joke, "If April showers bring May flowers, and May flowers bring Pilgrims, what does June moon bring?" "February babies."
2
David,
Do you recall anyone ever suggesting to your father that the June moon might be more likely to bring March babies?
2
I can count as well as you, BA, and decided to accurately quote my father, rather than quote him, accurately.
1
I have read the daily NYT for over 50 years but never tried the crossword until 2 months ago. What fun! As long as I stick to Monday and Tuesday! On Wednesday I have to look up too many words and I never know any of the sports or entertainer's names.
11
Welcome, C.
Stick with it, and come back to Wordplay and join the fun.
5
What Deadline said
2
Quick solve today and the Eagles won! All in all a great start to the week!
3
I guess it's time for you YANKS to follow the Canadian lead on the national anthem. Those FREE MEN in the Star-Spangled Banner (4th verse) must be GENDER-NEUTRALIZED asap!
3
What about the "slave" in the third verse?
Seeing QUARTERBACK, I was disappointed not to see MONDAY and MORNING. Still, a nice, easy Monday puzzle that I took to HART.
Wow...either that three hours of inebriated sleep worked or this was the easiest Monday ever. Dropped over a minute off my best.
2
Wow! This was easy! Didn't even cheat! Hoo hah! And it's a sunny day and the Eagles won ... !
3
CRESCENTROLL crosses CLAM ROLE and maybe a SID(e) CAESAR salad.
2
And don't forget the important lesson we learned a few weeks ago: The CAESAR cocktail is made with CLAM juice.
1
Like Deb, I thought of the curvy Pillsbury doughboy. Also I had just heard some interesting comments about Thomas Arne this morning on my classical music station. Only total switch today was from STAG to HART. I enjoy how these little details come from all directions of my life and it's different every day.
1
Well, so far, no one has fallen into the TAMALE TRAP, which is the belief that just because an English word comes from a foreign word that is spelled a certain way in the other language (the Spanish word is TAMAL), it is incorrect to use the "corrupted" spelling in English (when that spelling is the dictionary one). We had that issue recently with CZAR clued as a Russian leader.
I think maybe because the clue referenced "hot" as a qualifier, and "hot TAMALE" is kind of a set phrase in English (sometimes to describe something that is definitely NOT a Mexican food), no one is shouting "Foul! TAMAL!"
1
Smooth, clear, fresh, not too hard: quintessential Monday. Nice one, Mr. Arbesfeld!
And while I know that EDIE Falco is a fine actress and has since olayed other roles, she will always be Carmela Soprano to me.
6
I apparently read the clue for 71a differently from others and interpreted the "might" as meaning it might just as well be a daughter. As always when a clue is controversial I wonder whose it was.
7
As could it be a niece, a nephew, a second cousin twice removed, or your daffy Aunt Tillie. The idea that a SON might follow into a family business has nothing to do with who else might also.
Therefore, I feel to understand the outrage. And besides, DAUGHTER was too long.
3
Steve L - you've used "outrage" in two posts that I've encountered so far (reading from Newest). I'm interested in what counts as "outrage" in your booklet - and looking forward to encountering some flaming posts later on...
4
I agree with suejean, and don't see anything wrong with the clue and its deliberate vagueness about heirs.
Also, I've been puzzled by the references to "outrage," when all I've seen is the usual mild discomfort at the idea that "SON" would be the first thing that comes to some minds even today.
6
Seemingly one of few who did the Monday puzzle on Monday instead of during the Super Bowl. A new best Monday time - zipped through and didn’t make pesky time-consuming errors. Saw a friend at a conference last week who said she does the Minis, but is afraid to tackle the intimidating NYT crossword puzzle. I encouraged her to try the Mondays. This would have been her first chance, so I’m grateful for today’s clean, clever offering.
And yes - last evening’s best moment was the HYSTERICAL Dirty Dancing bit!
Today expected to be the busiest day in history at the Minneapolis airport.
3
There was a short period right before the superbowl that you could've done the puzzle too. But that's just a bit of nitpicking. :)
Hopefully your friend managed to tackle this Monday puzzle. Maybe she can come share her experience too.
re: Dirty Dancing ad - I applaud those guys keeping their faces straight. It could not have been easy.
Yes, a very quick solve but I thought it was nicely done. On first pass I just go through the across answers, occasionally glancing at the down clues for hints or confirmation, so the first theme answer I filled in was QUARTERBACKS, after a glance at 41d for confirmation on the Q. And the 'reveal' part of the clue for 60d was scrolled off the edge of my view on AL, so even after I filled in everything the theme wasn't immediately obvious to me (duh). Actually had to go find the reveal to finally get it.
Very nice puzzle, especially the theme answers. On review, I was stunned to learn that of the 4 long themers - all very much in the language - one was making its debut, only one had ever appeared in a Shortz-era puzzle before and the other two had only appeared once before in any puzzle.
4
Semi-OT note that might be of interest to some. In my ongoing struggles to grasp grid construction, I've started playing a post-solve game that I call "find the sevens."
There's actually a fairly straightforward to procedure to quickly confirm or eliminate any possibilities if you think about it. Only 1 seven letter answer in this puzzle. You might be surprised to find out how many puzzles don't have any at all.
2
Even though that went very quickly for me, I found a lot to appreciate in retrospect. I think Liz noted the body parts ONE EAR and MY EYE, but we also have two hidden parts -- FACET and BRIBED. I liked ROLE crossing CRESCENT ROLL. SLEUTH (without the S) was a very good play written by someone whose first name is crossword fodder but today is spelled backwards. Finally, totally appropriate to run this MOON puzzle on a Monday. Thanks AA!
4
Hah! The RIB is hiding in BED.
;-D
4
Just wonder if a puzzle can be constructed without using "oreo" and/or "aria".
8
Maybe a good dare, can anyone construct a pix le without them and also IDO , IOTA and URN.
Somebody is going to write an opera with or about oreos.
4
"Oreo babbino caro!"
Lovely smooth Monday. I suddenly saw the theme with the first two which helped me get the last two. ( For some reason I hadn't been thinking football for 47A in spite of it being Super Bowl day). I always like to get the theme before the reveal, especially on a Monday. It helps when it is the last entry.
2
After the last three, I was almost fearful of
Monday. Easy peasy! Nice break. I thought most of the commercials were super disappointing. I did love Eli, and I adored the sweet babies. What a game!
1
Super easy and super fun for super Sunday—my best app time for Monday yet.
1
I liked the the 25D answer 'mewl', but perhaps a better clue would be 'what Tom Brady does tonight as he tries to fall asleep'!
7
I do remember "My Eye" or "My Hat" growing up. Not now. As If!
1
71 Across in this day and age? Disappointed!
4
I am on TENTERHOOKS! I know it's not in the puzzle! Fave commercial so far: Eli Manning Dirty Dancing. Olympics ads also great. Maybe I'll even watch them this year.
4
Suzy, I am in FULL agreement on the Eli Manning ad as well as the Olympics promos. I didn't realize it at first, but the music that makes the latter so exciting is This Is Me from The Greatest Showman which I SAW just this week. Also, a little funny that a highly anticipated This Is Us episode followed the game.
1
The Eli ad was my favorite too. I just wish they could have slipped in some punny reference to "nobody puts Baby in a corner." Maybe they could have talked the Patriots QB into participating in the ad?
2
Speaking of upcoming Olympics ..... Definite MUST see tv.....Most recent airing of HBO's "Real Sports" (Bryant Gumbel) Not exactly 'expose' but mighty disheartening reporting on financial short-changing of USA Olympians. I.O.C. can forget my $.
After the recent appearance and discussion concerning the 2nd Commandment, all I could see staring back at me from today's puzzle was ORANGE IDOL. Interesting.
3
Back when we solved puzzles on paper, my husband and I used to compare our answers by reading one line at a time from our solved puzzles. Besides checking for discrepancies, we also looked for amusing combinations of answers. Or what we would call "good band names". From today's puzzle, I like SEESAW STRUT and EDIE TAMALE -- good band names, both.
A couple of years ago, I would have included ORANGE IDOL as well, but somehow it isn't quite so appealing anymore.
5
Going back to read the line - I discovered a pairing I had missed before:
Ari (the lion, Hebrew) - Lamb
Isaiah says
2
Andrew, speaking of ORANGE IDOL. I was working on completing the 2015 puzzles and coincidentally just completed the March 5th 2015 puzzle.
17A: Who said about himself "Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money"
1
Thank God for Monday’s..puzzles that is. But I believe Will is not keeping with the times with 45 a —Pacific geopolitical region. It should be INDO in keeping with geopolitical realities and not ASIA.
But doesn't ASIA encompass INDO? And why is INDO more appropriate geopolitically than ASIA? I'm not sure I understand?
For one the term, Indo-Pacific region refers to the littoral countries on the bodies of water defined by the Indian-and the Pacific Oceans. For another, the term "geopolitical" recognizes the ground realities as articulated in the policy statements from several countries around the world.
1
The picture at the top of the column doesn’t actually show us the phases of the moon... only pictures of a FULL moon (going through an eclipse).
11
Half an eclipse, actually.
1
I didn't do it.
3
I searched in vain for an answer connected with the verb form of the theme. Dang.
4
As I filled in the puzzle, I looked at NEW YEAR'S EVE and CRESCENT ROLL and thought "what the heck can they have in common?". That soon became obvious with QUARTER and FULL, to say nothing of MOON.
ONE EAR and MY EYE.
A nice pleasant Monday puzzle.
4
(probably will show up double, but I submitted this hours ago.)
My eye-brain coordination keeps seeing CRESCEN TROLL.
3
My eye-brain connection wonders what is a CRECEN TROLL?
Undoubtedly our fastest time ever and we didn't look at a thing. Thanks for the quick fun after the painful last three!
7
71A: Yup, a SON is only “One who might follow into a family business.” Of course, daughters do too, and there is more than one way to clue SON.
Hi again, Deb,
Perhaps I need to check my privilege, or perhaps it's because I've known Russ & Daughters since I was a kid and live a block from the old Olof Daughters store, but the 71A cluing didn't strike me as horrendous. In any case, I started to think of other ways to clue SON, and virtually everything I came up with could be taken badly by somebody (citations on request), so unless and until others can come up with inoffensive cluing, I suggest we ask Will to keep SON out of the puzzle.
2
Michael’s Prince, for one. Literally the first clue that came in my head. No need to keep words out. Just a little bit of an overly traditional clue that could’ve been redone.
4
Good discussion. I don’t think SON should be kept out of the puzzle. SONs exist (I have one of my own), I just think that there are other ways to clue it that don’t make women cringe.
3
"Michael's Prince, for one" is even worse, in my (NH+NES) opinion, since it demonstrates assumed patriarchy in REALMS. The late Mr. Jackson's son Michael is called Prince; why isn't a daughter called Princess? Sorry: no SON yet in my correct puzzles.
2
After Friday, Saturday, and to some extent Sunday, Monday always feels like such a breeze, and this one more than ever. Concerning MY EYE, the intonation would be different after being poked in the eye - definite emphasis on the second word. As the interjection in question - equal emphasis on each word, and as RMP has noted, "body part ad lib."
Up in these parts we spell it fleur-de-LYS - emblem of the province of Quebec. That held me up for a minute or two. QUARTERBACKS went with the subdued sound of the "game" on TV in the next room.
Andrew, After yesterday's little trick and today's Superbowl LII, is that fleur-de-56s that you're really saying?
1
Wen, took me a minute to catch on! Or should we say ‘Fleur d’ELVIS?!
3
Even better!
66A/52D: I knew both of these women actors, but I can see how this crossing might be difficult for those who don’t watch EDIE Falco in “Nurse Jackie” or ELLIE Kemper in the fabulous “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
Hi Deb,
I trust you meant it might have been difficult for people who had heard of *neither* actor, since the crosses for both entries are easy (as per your comment on 5D) and the only issue would be the crossing letter.
P. S. Some people who don't know them from the clued shows may know Ms. Kemper from "The Office" and Ms. Falco from "The Sopranos" and "Oz."
3
Even I had no trouble with that one. I happened to recall EDIE, but even if I had not, what letter other than I would fit at the crossing?
2
I remembered having heard of EDIE Falco -- I might even recognize her face, but I'm not sure -- but I needed the crossing letter to choose between ELLIE and ELSIE for Ms. Kemper.
1
Had a different body part before MY EYE.
Anyone going to fall for the TAMALE TRAP again?
Different clue, ELLIE again, too. Different REED today, too.
Slight nod to SB LII with QUARTERBACKS about to STRUT their stuff.
4
I coined that phrase! I coined that phrase!
3
And I put it into use as soon as the occasion arose. . . now if you get a third person to use it . . .
1
You're the third person, RMP. At its premiere comments appearance, I suggested that Wen open The Tamale Trap, a Mexican restaurant for crossword solvers, in Natick, Mass.
5
I do say "my eye" - and have heard it said in vivo - but always after a repeat of a disputed phrase:
"Biggest audience for SOTU in history my eye."
15
I often hear it with RMP's "different body part," David. With respect to the person to whom you refer, I'd say I *always* hear it ala RMP.
3
Yes - and I knew someone who'd use the variation "Biggest audience for SOTU in a pig's left foot!"
1
"Biggest audience for SOTU your mother's mustache."
1
Very fluid Monday Puzzle. A pre-Super Bowl treat.
4