I was stumped in the loweer left quadrant until I realized it was "Whoville" not "Hooville," as we Wahoos refer to Charlottesville, VA.
1
Thought I would have a PR but got the dreaded "Try Again?" window. I was suspicious of my STLOE as a nickname for St. Louis, but was confident in LAVA, OVEN, and EERIE for 7D, 8D, and 9D, so I spent another 10 mins. or so searching the rest of the puzzle for errors. Didn't like HOTSTOVES (?) for 39D or OJIBWA for 10D, but liked all my crosses. Finally, I dropped my insistence on St. Louis for 5A and STJOE (St. Joseph?) came to mind, which led to JAVA for 7D -- of course!
Except for this 10-min. diversion, I had an enjoyable time uncovering the "quip." LIked the clue for 49A -- exactly where I went after finishing the puzzle!
1
Thank you for posting this! I had the exact same problem, and you saved me another 10 minutes of searching. I am sure I wouldn’t have come up w St. Joe.
1
You're welcome!
A real home run today! I loved the puzzle, laughed at the quip, and the commentary by Bill Scheft was the icing on the cake! I laughed loudly and long at each one of his "tricky clues" entries. Bravo NYT! More like this please!
5
Although I did the puzzle this morning with my first cup of tea as usual, I didn't take the time to read Wordplay and the comments until now (6 PM EDT.) I usually don't like quip and quotation puzzles, but this one--and the commentary From Bill Scheft--was a hoot, with some really terrific crosses, especially in the NE.
I enjoyed the coincidence of EAGLES (my hometown team! Yay!) and the kerfluffle over their "cancelled" White House visit.
And thanks, too, to the Wordplay commenters who also add so much to the crossword fun every day.
1
I just noticed that the former "NYT Picks" tab on the Comments is now "NYT Replies."
I'm not big on quip puzzles, and as usual I'm late, so nothing of note to add to what's been said.
My first thought for 39D, with just the H showing, was HENHOUSE. I was pretty sure that was wrong, though, and didn't enter it. I guess I was remembering that there was some baseball something called a "farm team."
1
I don't think NYT Picks and NYT Replies are the same thing. One is a NYT recommend. The other one is a reply.
2
I’m somewhat grumpy today - puzzle and guest column alleviated said cat-state a bunch - but I think even in a better mood I would have reached my yearly dose of “hi kids” today. It’s not even an age-thing or so, it’s just the frequency, which could be dialed down. If there were stats of word use within the column (Jeff?) the phrase might be a contender for the top spot.
Now I complained about two words of a column I read with delight almost daily, which makes me wonder if perhaps it is an age-thing and this is an early onset case of “get off my lawn”-itis? I’m not even 40!
Let’s hope this comment never makes it past the gremlins that seem to haunt the NYT servers these days. They still insist that each read column could be my last. If so, bye kids!
2
I agree and apparently I'm twice your age. But I never heard about that comedian and know about most most of the people with whom the Beatles became what they are. including their fabulous producer. George Martin.
3
I have nothing useful to add. Here's a song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipc9pL27krs
..
Attempt #2. "An error occurred" on the first attempt.
That song is a different -- and much more enjoyable -- "Hi, kids," Rich. And remember: if at first "an error occurred," try, try again.
First time in a long while that the solve came without help from Wordplay. I needed that since I was starting to doubt my xword chops.
Loved the humor! Come back soon Mr. Mausser.
1
If your did it here you can do it again. I find such satisfaction finish it independently. Wait as long as you can. It will ALMOST always come to you. Great job!!!
1
Thank you kind sir!
Absolutely Mickeyd! I find that if I leave the puzzle alone for a bit, the clues steep in my brain (subconsciously) and when I come back I start filling the puzzle.
1
Today I learned (thanks to the Spelling Bee):
HORNDOG is not a word.
1
Sorry. I (gulp) tend to agree. Corn dog is two words. Maybe horn dog is also.
What I do know is that dada is a real word, not a proper noun, and yet it is not...a word.
It's part of the game. Once I find the pangram (in my head, not on an anagram app) I feel very satisfied.
2
Funny how the Spelling Bee hasn't met the dictionary:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horndog
1
Dick Scheft has to be the best comedian I've never heard of. ROFLed on 'Annie Get Your Nug', but decided the pup-dog is still too young to learn he's adopted.
Aside from the funny punny theme, thought the NE was an inspired thing of beauty, with SUBURBIA separating the OJIBWA (Y not?) from the IDITAROD. Guessing whether that's geographically correct is bound to keep us in SOS-PENS.
Yesterday a ROLEX, today a TAG Heuer... Watch out for tomorrow, eh?
Speaking of yesterday... was when I mentioned Aleksander Pushkin, who wrote the book for Tchaikosky's opera 'Eugene ONEPIN" on. Turns out that today, Pushkin would turn 219. A B'day on D-Day...
Only down side to today's puzzle is that remembering "Harper Valley PTA" for some reason also dredges up that Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie bridge. I may have to TAKE SOMETHING for that.
A big Thank You to the Mausser/Scheft & Associates conglomerate for this Wednesday interluude. Must now investigate whether Name-droppers suffer from YCLEPTOMANIA.
[all Basques in one exit, teehee]
7
This one was a lot of fun, and I agree the quip was really funny. I teach middle school language arts, and the column reminded me of one of my favorite "vocabulary jokes."
Did you hear about the agnostic dyslexic insomniac?
He stayed up all night wondering whether there really was a dog.
Ba-dum-bump
12
I’d said earlier that I think that NYT comments are NYT comments. I think that it’s time for that to change, and for it to become the blog that it purports to be.
Most wordplay commenters are also online crossword subscribers, as far as I can tell. (Anyone with a digital subscription to NYT is able to comment on a comment-enabled article, including Wordplay, even non-xw-subscribers, yes?)
I think that it’s time for Wordplay comments to be handled differently from other NYT comments. Let’s use (or have someone write) real blogging software. For all of us who are paying for the online access to the puzzle we will feel like we’re getting a better value for that $40 a year. Digital NYT subscribers could also enjoy it.
Real blogging software would keep track of comments, replies to comments, and replies to replies. Each thread would be clear, and probably indented multiple times to show relationships of replies to earlier text. It would keep track of the correct sequence of these, perhaps using GMT time for timestamps included with comments. Threads could be read sequentially. It wouldn’t lose comments. It would also enable us to edit typos out of already-posted comments. It might even allow us to delete our own already-posted comments. And it would notify us when our comments and replies are responded to.
Make it so?
11:28am Wed Jun 6th 2018 EDT
11
WOO
HOO
you go gurl
1
@David Connell, never hurts to ask, eh? And thanks.
I also copied this to [[email protected]].
12:25pm Wed Jun 6th 2018 EDT
it's June
ain' it
(^_^)
Harder than the usual Wednesday for me, with several tight spots in the center, where the cluing was very clever.
One writeover today, at 10A, where I tried "otic" before getting OSIS.
Enjoyed our guest commenter!
PS: count me among those who solve with a Sharpie.
Hand up for OTIC first.
Extra words.
4
Sad at turning on the TV this morning to see a report on Kate Spade, it turns out that this puzzle is just what the doctor ordered.
Quip puzzles are now so rare, when one pops up I find it a fresh, new experience. And this one definitely brought a smile to my face. Plus Mr. Scheft's critique got an out right laugh.
So thanks, guys, for this morning's amusement which really brightened my day.
(And BTW, you, too can be an ACE at TAG if your learn to WIZ around with a ZIG and zag.)
5
Hi Johanna,
Thank you for bringing up the sad news about ms. Spade's suicide.
If anyone reading this is suffering from depression and thinking about suicide, please call one of the following numbers for help. Non-judgmental people are standing by to listen:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
Crisis Text Line: Text CONNECT to 741741 from anywhere in the U.S.
The Trevor Project, for young LGBTQ+ people: 866-488-7386, or more info for text or chat: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/
16
Deb, thank you for posting this very important information.
2
Yes on that. While many sensationalize the event, just think, if you can, of the indescribable terror of life someone feels by the time this happens. It is excruciating pain and terrifying to even contemplate. Call the number and tell others. There is always a future without pain.
4
Loved the quip which struck my funny bone. Though I've loved acrostics since I discovered them when I was about 20, the puzzle quips don't have word breaks which makes them a little more difficult. This one flowed, though, when I got the K.
Yay! A quip puzzle. Oh, how I have sorely missed thee! I would struggle to describe exactly why these types of puzzles please me so much--I think it is because I have to work the crosses hard to reveal just a bit of the theme material, and then my mind can go about in all different directions to find the quip. In short, I guess, the 'A-HA' moment is stronger. This one features a great joke, which helps increase the enjoyment for me.
2
Fun puzzle; fun column. Nice to start the day with some laughs.
4
My brain can convince my hand to enter anything on a grid. Today, I had President Carter in the Senate; now there is some bold reasoning...I usually begin in the NW and finish in the SE but I think I might try a different approach soon. If the change bears fruit it will justify my suspicion that my thinker cools down toward the completion of the solve. Dog earring the puzzle is always another option...Thanks for the mention of both Bill Scheft and Ken Dodd. I have seen the former (I think he threw the football at the Christmas tree every year) but the latter was an unknown; R. I. P. Sir Kenneth...The phrase a KLEPTO never wants to hear but might not mind listening to,"Hold It Right There," is track 2 from the recent collaboration by Van Morrison and Joey De Francesco. The collection, an eclectic mixture of covers and Van's writing, is titled You're Driving Me Crazy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5r5fbFPiMo
Deep In The Bosom Of SUBURBIA,
Bru
1
It was Jay Thomas who threw the football at the Christmas tree every year on the old Letterman show. Usually after telling his Lone Ranger story, IIRC. Available on YouTube.
1
Thank you Mr. Scheft.
My dad, with whom I solved puzzles in PEN, would take me to NYC to see "Borscht Belt" comedians (circa 1962) This was a component of his plan for us kids not to use profanity as most "belters" did not. One night I met Henny Youngman who opined "only bad comedians rely on f#cking profanity... just ask Bob Hope."
Richard an ideal Wednesday, thank you.
3
That was fun and funny, as was the column. Great idea, Deb!
Must rush, but not before I do my daily quota of 'Not a Word' on the mini-Spelling Bee. Seriously, WHAT dictionary are they using??? Also mystifying: why can't this be formatted in such a way that it can fit on the iPad screen when it's horizontal? Is it the (silly) number line? Then put it below vs beside the soccer ball!
Come back soon, Mr. Mausser (and also Bill Scheft.)
3
Especially since it's obviously geared for the crossword crowd, who know ADIT and WADI and all those other words.
Both of those were rejected yesterday, but the word list shows Iliad. The rules say "no proper nouns."
Yes I was surprised by wadi. There is no dictionary. Two people go out to the requests near the Times building, and over many beers, just say yes or no to each submission. They have a good time and so do we, so what's the problem?
Enjoying all the jokes and looking forward to more.
Puzzle was a good challenge for me and I was surprised that I finished it successfully. Notable brow-furrowing moment was at 30d. I had POD instead of GAM and at one point I was staring at PY_DY and trying to figure out what I had wrong.
Best moment, however was at 54d in combination with my short-term memory. I was sitting there trying to remember who won the Super Bowl. "I know, I know this," I kept telling myself. And I had the news on the TV in the background, and... you can guess the rest.
I think I'll ease on down the road.
6
This must be XWP veggie (but not vegan) foodie week. Yesterday we had carrot or radish ROOT; today, ON CUE we have BEET greens and YAMS, and al DENTE pasta (with a EWE's pecorino Romano). Good use of a HOT STOVE.
I'm FOR IT, THO not ANAL about it.
4
Spelling Bee didn't accept DORD today:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/ghost-word
But it did include a mythological creature that was almost certainly a proper name.
2
Also doesn't accept DOGRUN, when every boarding kennel has 'em.
They're inconsistent when it comes to compound words, e.g., BATBOY recently got the nod, while BALLBOY didn't.
I find it unreasonably annoying at times, yet can't stay away...
3
... and I guess rejecting NORN was just Fate.
WTH is a dord? I believe that is a word made up for crosswords not for our wonderful and newly beloved anagram puzzle.
Great Wed. puzzle from Mr. Mausser with the bonus comments from the very funny Mr. Scheft.
I only hope that when I'm gone, my husband continues to not do the daily puzzle out of respect (not that he does the Sunday either, but, oy, what a mess he makes when he tries!)
A loving and funny tribute to Adrianne Tolsch - the clip was truly hilarious!
4
Ripping! I dedicate my solve to Secretary Pruitt .
3
Good one, Skeptical.
I like solving quotation puzzles. They are unique in that you are not simply uncovering words and phrases, but longer entities -- coherent ideas -- an experience you rarely get in crosswords. I like how they slowly reveal themselves, how they make you use solving strategies you don't normally use, and the rim shot at the end is a great little bonus.
A certain well-known NYT crossword blogger decries them every time they appear, but I say space them out, Will, of course, but please please keep them coming!
17
I like a good quip puzzle from time to time; it's fun to try and work them out. Ken Dodd was quite popular here, but I hadn't heard the quip before. I found this just right for a Wednesday. Also a nice change of pace with the comments from Bill Scheft, nice idea Deb.
TIL that there are OPALS on Mars.
6
“LAVA” before “JAVA”, “HOTSTODA” before “HOTSTOVE” and “STAYIN” before “STAYAT” and “WIG” before “WIZ.”
Besides enthusiastically hoping a made-up word or phrase would be crossword jargon, I did ok.
Thanks Deb
5
As those people in Hawaii and Guatemala could tell you, LAVA is a but more than mud.
What's HOTSTODA?
I'd pay money to see a Broadway show called THE WIG.
1
What's HOTSTOVE? I got it but I don't get it.
7
Audiomagnate:
Two suggestions for you re HOT STOVE
1, Read the comments.
2. Google is a wonderful thing.
2
Did you hear about the short fortune teller who escaped from prison?
There’s a small medium at large...
13
Ba dum bum!
My version of that is:
Did you hear that they're combining those cable shows about the lives of dwarfs with the one about the woman on Long Island who can communicate with the dead? They're putting it on the Travel Channel, and calling it:
Small Medium Lodge.
Ba dum bum!
1
Jeannie C Riley sang Harper Valley PTA in 1968. They made it into a movie in 1978. Then they made it into a TV sitcom in 1981. Now it’s a NY Times crossword clue. What next?
1
Absolutely nothing, one hopes.
8
Broadway musical?
1
Podcast or TED talk.
I will now add BEET greens so this comment will post immediately, unlike the earlier one waiting for human review because it was too short.
Is it a coincidence that this puzzle debuts on the day the EAGLES were meant to be honored at the White House??... or is Will perhaps trolling DJT with a last-minute clue change at 54D? If so, it’s worthy of Pete Souza’s Instagram feed.
7
I got the G and confidently filled in TIGERS. As my mother used to say, yes I'm sure. I may not be right, but I'm quite sure.
Eventually I ripped out TIGERS and then kicked myself when I a) remembered the EAGLES and b) realized the Tigers don't even play football and c) learned from google they haven't been champions in decades.
2
Clemson and Princeton may beg to differ on that, Bess.
No offense intended to them! (Other teams of Tigers, I presume?) Detroit Tigers is what came into my mind and sounded right-ish. Until it clearly wasn't.
1
Getting tired of those old automatic comments? Let's have more of that Scheft shtick!
2
And in sure I'm twice as old as Deb and I never heard of Ken Dodd.
2
The commentary of course was a riot. The puzzle was fun. What more could one want out of life?
6
Deb, you must make Scheft a regular here.
2
What a delight! Richard’s puzzle with fun clues and a great quip, Deb’s wise choice for a guest observer, and Bill’s hilarious commentary. Thanks, everyone,
p.s. Who gets the green check boxes and why?
2
Green checks are the residue of an antiquated system of commenter verification. Nowadays they serve only to irritate DavidC.
1
OMG LP -- Whuuuht, it's like you know me...
hee
hee
egészsegés
DC, you know I try to look out for you.
And thank you; I never till now made the connection between egészséges and szilárd.
As a token of appreciation, a bit of Leó Szilárd.
I always did like #4, #6 and #7
https://nevalalee.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/the-ten-commandments-of-leo-s...
Fun puzzle. A little harder for me than usual Wednesdays. Might be because I was set on quite a few wrong answers.
The joke in the theme is pretty funny - I liked it. Mr. Scheft's write up is also very good. Sorry to hear about his wife. The adopted dog joke made me laugh out loud. The Basques in one exit joke is a brilliant Spoonerism.
Back to the puzzle. I don't get 39D - HOT STOVE? And to also have 8D - OVEN to go along with the HOT STOVE. How EERIE.
2
For baseball fans, the HOT STOVE league is the off-season, when there are no games. We become obsessed with which players are moving from which teams to which other teams via trade, free-agency signings, etc. It's when the owners and general mangers "play" the game instead of the players.
5
Ah, thanks for that Dave. Still not sure why they choose to call it that, but I understand the explanation at least.
Because they sit around a proverbial "hot (wood) stove", having these discussions while the cold winter howls outside.
2
Eigo before JUDO but only because I taught English in Japan. Sensei’s teach everything, not just sports.
Still don’t understand 39D but got it from the crosswords.
Very fun puzzle. Loved Bill Scheft’s comments— lots of laughs!
2
We might hear from Martin on the subject of a sensei.
1
The HOT STOVE League is the Major League Baseball offseason when there are no games but many payer trades and free agent signings.
Ken,
Origin of 39D (per MLB):
http://m.mlb.com/glossary/idioms/the-hot-stove
2
“When the magazine wouldn’t run a feature of his on jai alai for two years, he stormed into the editor’s office and said, “Mr. Shawn, I’m putting all my Basques in one exit!””
Reminds me of a different joke.
In a small town in middle America, the Little League, Pop Warner football, the volunteer firefighters and ambulance corps, the Police Benevolent Association, the Shriners and Elks and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts all needed to raise money for their causes, so they had drives throughout the year. This of course infuriated the citizenry, because no matter what the time of year, whenever you walked down Main Street, someone had their hand out.
So the mayor of the town got all these groups together to one community fund drive to raise money for everybody for a month, and then leave everyone alone for the rest of the year.
The clever mayor told everyone, “Let’s put all our begs in one ask-it.”
16
I daresay that your joke is nearly as good as Mr. Scheft's. Nearly because his setup is more concise and the Basque - jai alai reference is great. Thanks for sharing it. I love collecting these kinds of jokes.
4
I often dislike QUIP puzzles, but Mr. Mausser made an enjoyable one, here...
And Mr. Scheft's commentary made it even better!
8
Struggled with the top middle because I couldn't get ST LOO or ST LOU to work, before I made a guess that there must be a place called St. Joseph.
I first thought St. LOU, too; but I corrected pretty quickly because I am from St. Joseph, Michigan. Before the advent of ZIP codes, our mail often went to Missouri first and then came to us.
St. Joseph was the eastern terminus of the Pony Express and where the outlaw Jesse James was killed.
2
Make up your mind it can't be both.
quote very funny -- probably quite ancient! Always loved Dr Seuss books. "Horton Hears A Who" was special with all the little Whos in WHOVILLE!
1
Went pretty fast tonight though I have never heard of OJIBWA. IHAVE always wanted to be a TVSTAR, but NOTSO. I will stop now because I SWORE to my wife I would cut out the lame jokes when she threatened to use her JUDO skills on me if I didn't.
5
Really the first? Emus on break?
I'm writing a technical post offline; I think I'll wait until morning to post it.
Tue Jun 05 2018 10:16 pm EDT
Nope. EMUS apparently on the job as your comment appears twice. At least via link in iPhone app. For now. One or both may still disappear.
1
@David Meyers
Only once right now in Chrome browser on laptop.
11:03am Wed Jun 6th 2018 EDT