Puzzle full of love, from Mr. Haight.
1
One thing that threw me was the T in BATCHEDIT... Where did this T come from? If you're doing the bachelor thing, shouldn't it be BACHEDIT?
It came down to the intersection of MTOSSA and ATLAS. I didn't know either so I simply guessed at S. Thank god!
Well, I've almost committed ARIKARA to memory.
Have combed through the comments, but it seems nobody else thought 'a big source of omega-3 fatty acids' was FLOUNDER. Or at least was willing to admit it. Later on, I could see it would have smelled fishy crossing those BOXED ROSES and required some scaling back. Guess I thought of it bec I've floundered a time or two, but don't think I've ever FLAXSE'ED.
Was pleased to see another (I think it was Paul in Virginia?) who pulled up images for MURSES. In a small way, those confirmed the usage I've heard for MURSES -- as Male nURSES. Repurposing the term for a functional men's accessory? --- MURSE-y, MURSE-y me!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ShXwamvksQ
Enjoyed seeing David's DRUID make a quick comeback, and NIELS didn't Bohr me at all. Any puzzle that can slide so elegantly from SPAM to SNOW will get a RYES out of me. HOLA to all my funny Valentines out there, and a big Thank You to BHaight, Will, Deb and the dangerous Caitlin too!
1
Batched it??
1
I've mentioned that I don't seem to be good at night solving; today I found I'm not so good at afternoon solving. On the other hand, this may be because I got up at 5:30 this morning to get to a conference a hundred miles away - and didn't sleep too well worrying that I would sleep through the alarm.
Definitely affected my mood with the puzzle. ARIKARA? MURSES? This is a Tuesday? Well, I guess so. No, I BELIEVE SO.
5
Until I filled in the revealer, I thought that the theme in the boxes was EROS, which makes for a nice double meaning for a valentine of a puzzle.
For a change, all of the names were known to me, but I had to make a guess at MURSES (Male pURSES?).
1
I was in Trader Joes this morning and saw roses. For some reason it appears that after doing the puzzle this morning I had to buy roses for my honey! Thanks for the subliminal suggestion and now I'm out $17.99 plus tax. Sheesh I demand my money back - no checks, just cash. Thank you.
2
You GET to buy roses for your honey. . .
8
Don't SCOFF at SNARF:
Jimbo57 may have got(ten) to the root of SNARF. Just as "SCARF" is an Americanism derived from "SCOFF", but re-spelled using the American "long O"; then SNOFF is an early* variant of SNUFF, which when used as a verb could mean to "draw (chiefly liquids) in rapidly through the nostrils". [SNOFF could also mean the last drops left at the bottom of a glass, which may be related.] Transferring this meaning to "eating rapidly [down to the last morsel]" is not too much of a linguistic (or vowel...) stretch.
*"early" here means at the point of the political/linguistic divide between Britain and U.S. Thus, the last OED quotations using the "SNOFF" spelling variant are in the mid 1700s.
2
Am I the only one who didn't have shaded boxes in the puzzle? I solve on the NYT website on a Mac. I've never had any issue with seeing elements like this in previous puzzles. Anyway, I had no way of seeing the "boxed" roses until I came to Wordplay and then went back and hunted them down. I then checked the app on my iPhone and sure enough, there were the boxes.
I was amazed there wasn't a single mention of this issue in the comments. I must be the only one!
By the way, hands up for wondering for the longest time how someone could be named ACNE Klein... SNARFED indeed!
3
Only had ACNE for about 10 seconds. I looked to see what the clue was and corrected it. To Dag's point yesterday - commercialization of culture - brand name often come easy.
It would be hard to see them, indeed! I also solve on the NYT website on a mac (MacBook Pro) also, but I could see the shaded boxes. I checked again just now to make sure it hadn't changed since this morning. So weird that these technical issues vary so much from person to person. My browser is Firefox, in case that helps to narrow down the issue.
Shaded squares appear in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera on MacBook Pro.
3
54D. What's next? How do you say "BOXED ROSES" in Linear A? 47D.
2
Alternative themes:
boxes of Greek gods of love EROS (others noted that theme as well)
boxes owies SORE
boxes Cockney fools (h)OSER
boxes of Anime characters SERO (a Natick in my book [but I've seen much worse])
My first though was Dozen ROSES. Good discussions on MURSE and SNARF, both of which made me GOSIDEWAYS. Luckily, I was "cross" enough to get the happy music.
IS SNARF what you get when a SNARKY person SCARFS down some food?
4
To me, Snarf can only ever be: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snarf_(ThunderCats)
2
Am I the only one who thought that the Valentine's Day theme was the word "EROS" in various permutations, until seeing the center clues?
1
COMMENT LOST THREE TIMES? Can it be?
Anywho. . .I said that you are not the only one who saw something other than ROSE. you saw EROS. I saw SORE (but I am not bitter). etc. Alan J saw a whole list of things!
1
I thought it was ESOR.
Nice theme for Valentine's Day eve. A few observations:
BOXED ROSES, while not a common term, made me think of long-stemmed deliveries too.
In my grammar school cafeteria, SNARF had an entirely different meaning (which I believe Leapy just hinted at). Put delicately, it involved milk being ejected through one's nasal passages as a result of laughing. Google backs me up on this.
Don't recall ever hearing BA(T)CH as a verb in this sense. MURSES is likewise an unfamiliar term. SITPAT doesn't sound right either.
Enough carping. If anybody wants to send me something for VD, skip the ROSES; send BOXED CDS instead.
Bonnie Raitt's GRAMMY-winning 1989 album "Nick of Time" included the reggae-tinged Top 40 hit "HAVE A HEART." Great song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9L0ewWvge8
British singer Colin Vearncombe recorded under the nom-de-rock Black. He hit big in 1987 with the synthy "Everything's Coming Up ROSES" (not to be confused with Ethel Merman's signature tune):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NU-OXA2Gk0
2
"Enough carping. If anybody wants to send me something for VD, skip the ROSES; send BOXED CDS instead."
Or maybe an RX?
6
Re: BATCHED IT-- Today seems to be OED day for me!
Oldest citation in the OED for BACH/BATCH is 1870. It's described as "N. Amer., Austral., and N.Z. colloq."
Interestingly, all but one of their examples from North America spell it BACH, and all but one of the examples from Australasia spell it BATCH. The pronunciation is BATCH unless you're in New Zealand, where it's more like BETCH.
1
It's "bached it" here. And, considering this is a puzzle published in North America, I would expect a (var) or (alt) modifier, especially on a Tuesday. I knew where he was going but "batched it" here means to divide things into batches.
Same here!
Best "batching" episode of the Andy Griffith Show: Aunt Bea was called away and just before she returned, Andy realized they needed to clean up. After cleaning up, Opie said something innocent like, "Aunt Bea would see they didn't need her." So Andy had Opie mess the place up so Aunt bea would feel like was needed....
3
The accused purloiner of the smooch in question pled his case: "there is fault to be found here but it is all HERS. HEY, I am not the type to hunt and peck". {;-)
4
BOXED ROSES, eh? (Said nobody, ever! Just try it: "I'd like to buy some boxed roses." Huh?)
Actually my first thought was, "Only four ROSES? He'd better have some really clever line to explain that one." Go big or go home, or at least be unique: "May our love grow along with this [tulip bulb/tree/cactus." Ha ha.
Okay, it's only Tuesday, so we're trying to overlook the other stinkers. (We still love you, Bruce.)
1
Speaking from the point of view of someone who received a box of red roses once upon a time, it happens. And it's nice when it does.
3
MOL, who knew? Small BATCH, even!
https://www.wineglobe.com/products/four-roses-small-batch-bourbon?utm_me...
They were in a box because they were delivered (and likely lovely long-stemmed roses, at that!) They were not ordered using the term "BOXED ROSES"...... The day after our 10 lb. 5 oz. son was born, I got a vase of roses--from one of my husband's clients! (He hasn't lived that one down, yet.)
I thought BOX OF ROSES, should have seen STEERER to fix it. Other odd answers were BATCHED IT and SNARF, I thought Scarf was more common.
My first fill-in there was BOX OF ROSES as well.
Winced at STEERER.
Chuckled at AIKARA as I recalled F-Troop's The Hekawi (as in where the heck are we) who wanted to be the Fukawi (as in...).
Thanks Bruce
2
A pilot is often a person who "steers" other ships through narrow waters or into harbor, so "STEERER" didn't seem so bad to me.
You can pilot your own vessel (and steer it). I'm sure dk's "wince" is for calling the person at the helm or rudder a STEERER. It's true, of course, but I've never heard it in real life or fiction.
2
The pilot is the steerer the way the agent is the doer - it's what they do, not what they're called.
Ron from Austin:
Regarding your question late yesterday, here is the origin of Natick:
http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2008/07/sunday-jul-6-2008-brendan-emme...
2
Barry -- Thanks for the reply. I'm in 100% agreement with the principle. In today's puzzle, for example, there's the annoying crossing of two obscure mountains.
Didn’t like batched it either. Fun Valentine’s Day puzzle.
I too am not familiar with murse; but was particularly annoyed by "snarf" which I have never heard of. I am well known as a fast eater and am often accused of scarfing my food. However, that would have made our fashion designer "Acne Klein" (perhaps a nickname in her adolescence - I hope not) I was disappointed that word was not addressed in Wordplay.
2
I BELIEVE the distinction is that one 'scarfs down' and 'snarfs up'. Or SO it SEEMS to me.
PKC, the OED has the earliest mention of SNARF in 1958; the first mention refers to jazz slang. The next mention is 1963, citing "Popular substitutes for the verb 'to eat' include...'to snarf down the goodies,' snarf referring, according to one informant, to the act of eating like an animal."
Perfect, front and center placement of the floral encasement, headlining the grid...I'm fine with the possibility of no MORE SNOW, thinking more along the lines of la prima vera...This solve was not without a few thorny moments, starting and stopping several times. BATCHED IT was one reason for the EBB and flow. I might have botched it right then and there but abandoned 'beached it' then things settled down nicely. The warmongering ARIKARA was also tough. My effort could have very easily veered SIDEWAYS, YET it stayed the course...MURSES is a thing? Who knew? Now I do although I doubt that I will require the fashionable accessory any time soon. Blissfully, I have survived the urban jungle up until now without the benefit of one...First Jack Jones then Herb Alpert are the STEERERs of today's twofer, "ROSES And Lollipops."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctu9NBNtOx8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bYdFb8Oz8o
Earnestly,
Bru
4
Learned something new in this puzzle, as I had never heard of the ARIKARA before. The Heckarewe, yes, but the ARIKARA, no.
7
Your ALMAMATER has prepared Olin with long tables and white linen covers to receive the anticipated flower deliveries for faculty, staff, and students. Quite the tradition!
Yes, one of several customs that keep that community knit together. If you haven't been to baccalaureate and graduation yet, make that a priority this time.
Just once, I wanted Larry Storch as Corporal Agarn to tell the Chief, we’re here..........because we’re not all there.
Fairly normal Tuesday solve for me. Once I figured out what was going on, I did use filling in the ROSEs from whatever letter I got first to help in those corners. Liked the puzzle overall. One bit on the down side: HAVEAHEART and STEALAKISS were great additions, but there are only four other 'theme length' entries (9 letters or more) in the puzzle (and that's on the low end of 'theme length'). Two of them were decent. The other two kind of iffy at best.
I watched 'The Revenant,' probably within the last year, but still didn't recall ARIKARA at all.
Interesting semi-related clue history on SIA. Pre-Shortz it appeared 39 times, always clued as 'New Mexico Indian' or a related variant. Will never used it until 2016 and it's been clued as that singer since then. Makes one suspect that he had put a ban on it before that.
Sometimes Elvis' middle name is ARON and sometimes it's Aaron. Here he is BATCHingIT in an old favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2DumNVcufE
..
4
Perhaps Will changed it because the New Mexico tribe is actually Zia.
1
Or perhaps because how English and Spanish speakers wrote the name of the people has slowly moved from Sia to Zia...
Also included are Rosalia Medina Toribio (ca. 1858–1950) and Reyes Ansela Shije Herrera (ca. 1865–1957) who in the 1880s were called “the cleverest artists in ceramics in Sia.” Although she is largely forgotten today, prior to 1940 Toribio was mentioned by scholars as possibly the best potter at Zia. Herrera was a prize winner at Santa Fe Fiesta in 1924.
https://wheelwright.org/exhibitions/the-potters-of-zia-pueblo-1700-2004/
1
Just right for Tuesday and a particular pleasure after yesterday’s name-filled puzzle. There was no need for look-ups, as my few pop-cultural unknowns were easily cleared up by the crosses.
TIL MURSES, ARICARA.
In view of the (almost) timely theme, I am resubmitting a comment I buried very late in the discussion of Sunday’s paranomastic puzzle:
Clue: Kiss me and don’t forget to call.
Entry: CATERING
3
Could have had a BATCH of cookies to go with those roses instead of BATCHING it . Does anyone actually say they carry a MURSE ? They are shopping for a MURSE ? All the men in my life laughed at that one !
1
The DHubby now carries a "Man-purse," which several guys have complimented (possibly with tongue in cheek.). He says the smartphone is too heavy in his pocket. Probably just as well; the older you get, the more equipment it takes to get through your day.
1
Mr B complains that if he's carrying around sunglasses and reading glasses--and I occasionally force him to carry his phone--he needs something to carry them in. He jokes that he's going to start wearing a fishing vest everywhere. If we go out to a nice restaurant, he'll wear a sports jacket for the pockets. But when we travel, he has a lovely Patagonia shoulder bag/messenger bag that works quite well. It will never be called a MURSE.
4
Field jacket (not the first one) or small backpack (ditto).
Dr. Haight?! No way. More like Dr. Love.
2
What on earth does SITPAT mean?
1
Elly, I think it means leave your hand as is -- change no cards in your hand.
More commonly *STAND* PAT, no?
(I'll see your...)
7
'Stand pat' and 'sit tight', both of which make perfect sense, if you think about it.
4
Re: this morning's Mini, is it just me, or is anyone else disturbed by the clueing of 'Pretentious' for ARTY? I only mention it because I also noticed this usage reading Anita Gates's obit of the wonderful John Mahoney recently, in which Frasier and Niles were described as pretentious, too.
My iMac dictionary defines pretentious as "attempting to impress by affecting greater importance or merit than is actually possessed," which is how I've always understood it.
So while Niles and Frasier were nothing if not ARTY, they were not pretentious in being so, because they really did know a lot about opera and sherry and that sort of thing, i.e. they weren't pretending to know more than they actually did.
Anyone else?
Chris, I see that you looked up pretentious in the dictionary. Did you look up ARTY?
3
No, I think you missed it. (I didn't think Frazier and Niles were pretentious; they just had educated sensibilities in the cultural sense. But if they were being ARTY and pretentious, they'd have gone around in ascots and smoking jackets, right?). Okay, I only saw a few episodes.
1
You're absolutely right, Andrew: 'making a strong, affected, or pretentious display of being artistic or interested in the arts (Chiefly North American).'
Funny–this side of the pond it just means 'interested in the arts.'
I still think I'm right on the Frasier thing, though. Fussy, yes; pretentious, no.
Boxed roses, rather than arranged in a vase, were staples of 40s and 50s movies. Think Lana Turner.
Hence I think they're much more romantic... Ask your parents, I guess.
1
ARIKARA wasn't too obscure for someone who grew up watching lots of 50s TV Westerns. (The Arikara were forever on the warpath,)
I too thought EROS was what we were after, but it is a nice coincidental note.
Thank you for the early valentine, Dr. H.
3
All kinds of reactions here. SPAM is not NONFAT, in case you were wondering; two ounces has 16 grams. I liked the answer SNARF and the clue for ALMA MATER ("Old school"). I wonder if Bruce went back and forth between MURSES and PURSES, as either would work there. I liked that right below MAITAI is a dropping BRA. Nice cross of MY BAD and GO SIDEWAYS. Never before thought about ROSE and EROS being anagrams, not to mention such apt anagrams.
Mostly, though, this puzzle left me with a feeling of completeness, not just because all four possible rotations of ROSE were used, but also that 4-1-5 HAVE A HEART balancing off that 5-1-4 STEAL A KISS, plus the use of the four corners, the center, and the long stalactite and stalagmite theme answers tying everything together. A nice round feeling, like a heart full of love.
7
Mmmmmm....SPAM. I did the math (at 28 grams approx. to an ounce)--28.6% fat. That sounds like a lot until I remember the body fat count from my last physical. Note to self--strive to be less fatty than SPAM. Corollary--eat less SPAM.
2
Just within the past few days there has been a new TV ad for SPAM, recommending that it be fried.
I thought my mother was the only person who ever fried the stuff, and even she stopped sometime I think in the late 1940s. {shudder}
2
If I'd only seen the commercial once, Deadline, I wouldn't have believed I'd seen it. OTOH, I don't think there's anything wrong with frying SPAM; I only object to eating it.
3
Was this more in my wheelhouse than yesterday's puzzle. I BELIEVE SO. The theme developed slowly with the ROSES, then realizing that they were boxed, and finally the town long vertical cleverly clued entries.
I did have to look up ARIKARA, though, before I figured out 37D.
ATLAS was a gimme as I've driven through the mountains, and they are indeed beautiful.
Fun Tuesday puzzle.
4
The mighty MURSE, aka man-purse, reminded me of the Friends episode, where Joey sports one of these bad boys. Of course my brain only made that connection after I ran the alphabet to get that R...
2
The R in MURSE was my last fill, too. I googled MURSE images:
https://www.google.com/search?q=murse&source=lnms&tbm=isch&s...
2
Jerry Seinfeld sported a MURSE as well, at least I BELIEVE SO.
1
It's a European carryall, according to Jerry, the fancy boy
1
Until I read Deb's comments, I thought the boxes all spelled eros, which makes as much sense for Valentine's Day, doesn't it?
7
It sure does, but it doesn't fit the revealer BOXEDROSES. It's a fun coincidence, though.
That's what I thought, too. After the first one, I figured the other boxes would spell words like LOVE, AMOR, and . . . ? But then they were all the same, which ruined that idea. Then I saw the revealer and it became clear. Funny that I never noticed that ROSE and EROS are anagrams of each other.
1
and Elke
What ?! No chocolates ?? BOXED or otherwise ?
Don't try to STEAL A KISS without some.
PS- I know that Ogden Nash said : Candy is dandy,but liquor is quicker.
I don't like RYES. Keep some chocolates in your MURSES.
TEHEE.
6
In this MeToo era, old Ogden would be taken to task for saying that.
1
Not so, SteveL. Ogden Nash's title for that couplet is Reflections on Ice Breaking.
4
So that's what they're calling it now?
1
Given the Wednesday-level words in here like ARIKARA and MURSE, and of course the theme, I don't understand why this didn't run on Valentine's Day itself. Does Will have a trick up his sleeve for tomorrow?
5
Wags. Two hard entries do not make it a Wednesday level puzzle. People would have complained that it is too easy. As to what Will has up his sleeve, we will know tomorrow.
2
Tomorrow we will have the Lent puzzle.
(no words)
4
At least, no words like MEAT, LUXURY, CHOCOLATE, or PARTY. Instead, ASHES and such.
2
I worked this puzzle while ScARFIng down dinner and watching the olympics. After coming to the conclusion that some men (not me) apparently require use of a MURSE, I had to figure out how Mr. Klein became infected with an improbable case of AcNE. As I finally finished SNARFing down desert, ANNE Klein’s mysterious AcNE suddenly cleared up, revealing her true identity!
Thanks, Bruce, for what I BELIEVE to be a very LOVELY (emphasis mine) and lively Tuesday puzzle.
12
Hands up for ScARF and AcNE too! Took a while to clear this one up!
5
SuperB, MikeR! I ScARFed down also, but you turned it into a raconteur de force!
2
SCARF here too.
And I wondered if Calvin had zits.
Nice puzzle, but I’ve noticed what appears to be a recurring cluing error. AHI is the Hawaiian word for Yellowfin tuna. While technically yellowfin tuna can be served as sushi, Japanese restaurants would refer to it as maguro.
3
I've been working on that one for years. Editors shrug it off.
In fact, maguro is the Japanese word for bluefin, the preferred tuna. Yellowfin (ahi in this country because much of it comes from Hawaii) is "kihada" in Japan, where it's mostly seen as a cheaper alternative to maguro.
But the reality is that most sushi restaurants in the US use yellowfin but call it maguro. In other words, that maguro is probably ahi. So I've given up even trying even though I'm convinced many cluers and editors think "ahi" is a Japanese word. I assure you that Will Shortz has been informed that's not the case.
10
So “Hawaiian sushi”would be a better clue? Notice how several women here - me included - remember the Uber-romantic boxed roses of Old Hollywood?
They were BOXED because they were long-stemmed. One ordered long-stemmed ROSES; the BOX went without saying.
4
Deb writes:
Mr. Haight went on to muse about an alternative plural clue for his entry RAPS, but it went pretty far afield from talking about his puzzle, and was icky to boot. So I edited it out.
Your thoughts?
My thought, Deb, is wonder that you mentioned that there were additional comments from the constructor that you did not include. If you didn't find them relevant or appropriate, why mention them at all?
4
The additional paragraph can be found at. Xwordinfo.com.
Steve, maybe it was there 7 hours ago, but it's not there now.
..
2
What Rich said.
Also, I don't see the paragraph that Barry cites anywhere in Deb's column.
This late tinkering is making the comments even harder to follow than the randomness with which they are posted.
BACH IT is what a person who is used to being taken care of does when they live alone. BATCH IT is how you fit a large cookie recipe into a small oven.
8
Ah, the vicissitudes of written communication!
I'm BATCHING IT right now, in fact.
1
umm, BATCHwork quilt, MOL...?
1
Are you knit-picking MOL's purl of wisdom, Leapy?
Warp
1
An enjoyable and straightforward puzzle for an early Valentine's Day gift. Thanks, Bruce and Will. I had a better time with this one than I did with yesterday's puzzle.
The NW corner solved quickly, but I read the 4x4 gray squares as EROS instead of ROSE. That was still on topic, so I thought that was the theme. When I got to the center, I thought the pair of revealer entries would be CUPID something, or something CUPID. It didn't take long to see that it was a run for the ROSEs, and not for little naked cherubic archers.
That's a pretty flexible circuit of letters when you circle up ROSE that way. Whichever square you choose to start, and whichever direction you read, you have a 50% chance of reading a word. And the other 50% are very readable non-words:
Words:
ROSE
EROS
SORE
ORES (which also appears in a straight line at 11D)
Non-words (at least, not in my wheelhouse)
OSER
SERO
ESOR
RESO
4
Well, it appears that all of those non-words get hits when searched online. But none of them seem to have really strong "crossworthiness," at least in my opinion. There are some acronyms, foreign words, and prefixes. Nothing that struck me as a truly in-the-language English word. Anyway, if we're going to keep inventing new words, I'd rather see any of these proto-words take on a some kind of meaning before I'd ever want to encounter MURSES again.
3
pretty straightforward. Did not like BATCHED IT! Would have preferred to have four different kinds of flowers than ROSES four times in order to have BOXED ROSES! Whatever! Happy Valentine's Day!
2
I saw the NW "box" fill in with EROS and thought, oh cool, a Valentine's theme puzzle. Well, sort of. But I got to the middle and wanted DOZEN ROSES and couldn't figure out any way to make that happen.
ARIKARA was definitely obscure and weird and only came from the crosses. BATCHED IT was definitely familiar and a term I thought had been around for a long time. Didn't like MURSES at all; it seems forced and artificial. Just call it a bag!
10
But the MURSES were matched with a PERSE.
2
Funny, I saw SORE...eventually, proving to be sorely wrong...
1
"BATCHED IT was definitely familiar and a term I thought had been around for a long time."
It *has* been around for a long time, Liz. Deb should have also checked with someone older than she is.
2
I made a lucky guess at the crossing of Arikara and Rory - never heard of either as clued. The only Rory I know "personally" would be Rory Raccoon from the Linus the Lionhearted show (I must have listened to their LP a million times back in the day).
The way the Atlas Mountains rise out of the geography of North Africa is wonderful to see from an airplane. I hear they are also a great destination on terra firma, though I missed that pleasure.
David, nice to see your prediction from yesterday made the puzzle today: DRUID.
3
Rory Calhoun was in a lot of cowboy movies in the 40s and 50s, maybe into the 60s.
5
I had the pleasure to take a study tour to Morocco and the Atlas Mountains were a stunning part of it.
1
The roses aren't randomly scrambled. Each reads R-O-S-E clockwise, in all four possible permutations. Pretty neat.
16
For what reason?
Because knowing where the R goes tells you where the other three letters must go. Furthermore, there are for possible squares for the R and each appearance of ROSE has the R starting in one of the four. I think that's neat.
2
So that noone would be S-O-R-E from being left out?
2