Completed this a October puzzle a bit late (February 1!) at the end of a day that my hard drive crashed and, still, this puzzle managed to make me smile.
Tried to make something with KFCs Colonel work for that last clue, but caught on to the higher rank, as it were, fairly quickly.
Smooth solve all around!
Apparently some people in the defense industry use "code" is a synonym for the noun "program." In 30 years in the Silicon Valley, I have never heard it used this way. "Code" is a verb and it is also a collective noun. For example, you can "write some code" and a program consists of "lines of code" but no one here ever refers to "a code" unless they're talking about cryptography.
So, when Will S., or anyone else, uses "a code" as a synonym for "a program", in an apparent attempt to show that they are in the know, it actually has the opposite effect.
3
@PaulSFO Actually, it's a "mass noun" like, say, "salt" (as opposed to a "count noun"). In any case, I agree. In 45 years in IT, I've never heard "code" (referring to computer source or executable code) used as a count noun.
1
@PaulSFO Perhaps this clue is more geared toward the rest of us. As someone who does not code, but spends much of my working life around tech companies, I quickly got this.
1
I made it to Genius and I'm going to bed.
*HOW* I wish Just Carol from Conway would reach out (before we move) but I don't seem to be on the same schedule!
You’re moving!!!?
I don’t know how to reach out anonymously but I’m Carol Daves and live on Cambridge. I’m listed. Give me a call MOL!
1
@Just Carol. Found it! Once we live through the a.m. Garage sale (on Morningside Dr.) I'll call-- stop by if you're out! I see we're not too distant.
Remarkably fun cluing in this puzzle! Loved it, especially POACHER.
:-D
2
P.S. "Polar bears and penguins" in the photo leading off Caitlin's column?
@Ron
Incidental attractions of the LANTERN festival I presume, (although the photo seemed to be more penguin than polar bear...)
@Andrew
Just saw the penguins! Thanks.
I found this much easier than yesterday, when I got hung up in the SE and didn't get the them till late (but that's another story ...). Only 6 mins. off my best time.
Like Caitlin (and others), I stared at STALEBREAD for some time before it clicked. Ditto for MONEY and CLICHE. Only real hangup was with having baggAGE at 25A until CAPONE hinted at SCAT at 25D and STOWAGE followed. Only unknowns were all names, and all at the top: ESME, TANEY (Boo, hiss ...), and ELYSE.
For a Frday, enjoyed it (very atypical)! This was largely a result of getting some long ones right off the bat (PERIWINKLE, MINDMELD, OPENSOURCE), and others with only a couple of crosses (WITCHTRIAL, GENERALTSO). Lots of really clever clues!
1
Wonderful puzzle! It took some time, but I completed, as I do almost all Friday puzzles. But Saturdays are still incredible stumpers, as I sometimes get only 5 or 6 words before crumpling it up and getting back to practicing or the garden. Does anyone else find Saturday a totally different world of difficulty than Friday?
1
@David Rintoul - howdy, neighbor! - instead of crumpling - go out to the garden, then come back and look at it again. Many posters here join me in the sentiment that a while away from a mostly blank grid is a good thing.
We've had a bunch of threads discussing the timings - mine follow the pattern of M-Tu-W each taking a little longer to solve, then a bump for Th-F, then another bump for Sa-Su. Not everyone's curve looks like that, but Saturday is definitely meant to take more work than Friday in general.
PS Hi to Wendy!
1
Despite Wen's helpful list, I am three words short of QB. It was a great day for the puzzle, but not for SB, for me anyway. See you all tomorrow! by which I mean, tonight after the Saturday puzzle comes out.
1
I’m missing 4 Ts and an I. I’m missing both 7s. I’m surprised that ROTINI was rejected.
3
@David Meyers, I agree with you about ROTINI. I was QB yesterday but quit today just like the day before yesterday. For your "I" hint, have you thought about the benefit of eating spinach or liver?
Here is a little extra help for the Spelling Bee:
Tot 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
H 3 3 - - - - - - -
L 6 4 1 1 - - - - -
N 6 1 2 1 - - 1 - 1
O 2 1 1 - - - - - -
R 6 4 1 - - 1 - - -
T 15 7 2 2 2 1 - 1 -
I 3 2 1 - - - - - -
Tot 41 22 8 4 2 2 1 1 1
The T-7's one is a compound of a metal and wind instrument. The other one is Italian dessert.
1
Hey alright, this was a solid clever puzzle. I liked getting it threaded together, even though most of the puzzle went counter-clockwise for me. The NE corner had me stuck, and TANEY was the stitch I needed to zip it up.
I started at STERNUM before RIBCAGE and turned the corner at TINKERED; nice Nimoy reference with MINDMELD.
1
Good puzzle Friday but don’t get 18 across. “Tony” for stage props
Constance,
[Give] props is to praise.
Tony awards are given for Broadway plays.
1
This has been a bad week for me; once again I finished a puzzle with an incorrect letter! In my defense, I had been up since 3 a.m., the alarm went off at 5:30, and it was already hot and muggy outside. (I think it's a violation of the state constitution for it to be this hot in October! )
I will have to go back and check for more errors, but I had an L in the 35 square, and maybe news anchors have to come up with LEAD LINEs?
On top of that, I am stuck at Amazing (33 words, 106 pts) with my list of rejects --INTROIT, ROTINI, TILTH (which is not achieved with a hoe, I should add.) Last week's Big Bee list is out, and missing are vanillin, viand, naiad, audial, and liana, which used always to grow on crossword grids. The new Big Bee is a toughie, but I think I have the requisite 19 for Genius.
3
@Mean Old Lady
"I had an L in the 35 square, and maybe news anchors have to come up with LEAD LINEs?"
Well I guess that tells us where you stand on the lead v. lede controversy.
Still ... surely you could have thought of another word? Something you see every day?
Yes I think LEADLINE and LAB(dance) could have worked just fine.
@Deadline
Mea Culpa....and you such a regular poster and great commentator! AND cat person!
I plead heat exhaustion.
After reading prior commentary, there isn't much I can possibly add, except to say "d'accord!" and congratulations to our very own 35D. As a former college paper editor, I too was stuck choosing D or H to put in that square.
1
Caitlin: for a delicious GF stuffing use eggplant cubes instead of stale bread! Puzzle was a bit easy for a Friday but the clues were fresh & fun. I liked "One who's got game but shouldn't", and "Like a kid in a candy store e.g."
4
I looked at the GF in your post and thought, Girlfriend? Good Friday (wrong holiday)? And then much later, oh right, Gluten Free.
A new comments weirdness today: I toggled to "oldest" first, but apparently it didn't go through, and I wound up reading in reverse order. Didn't notice it until I was about 3/4 of the way through. Apologies to Barry for my earlier reply that I hadn't seen the Taney/Dred Scott reference.
I see that many of you preferred HEADLINE for 35D. But that's okay. I'm not hurt. Really. Plus, I'll get over it. {sniff}
Big confusion for me at 1A. With a couple of downs, but not 3D, I saw the word ANSWER emerge at the beginning of the entry. The resulting ANSWERE E OFF was quite strange looking.
STORAGE before STOWAGE, I'M IN before IS ON, COOL ONE before COLD ONE.
Am I the only one who tried to stretch WITCH HUNT into 53A? Or cram IN THE CLOSET into 56A?
I was looking for the SERTA Counting Sheep the other day. Glad they finally made it, even if they were delayed. Perhaps they were napping.
I can't help but join the chorus heaping praise on this wonderful puzzle. So many fresh and enjoyable entries, with wonderful and clever clues. And DEADLINE.
Thank you Robyn. [Leaving to lick wounds.]
3
"Or cram IN THE CLOSET into 56A?"
Temptation avoided: the theatre major prevailed over the Greenwich Village resident.
Have you been out for [st]rolls, Deadline?
(You always read the comments from oldest to newest, except on the day you appear in the oldest comment!)
@Barry Ancona
What can I see, Barry. Anyway, fame is fleeting.
I took my new mobility aid for its first major outing today. I was glad to have it to sit on, since I had a long wait at the pharmacist. Anyway, it held up very well. And three (3!!!) people held doors for me.
Glad to hear that you're giving it a workout. I'm sure it will be handy waiting for buses!
As I worked the puzzle, things first laid out so that 58A, military leader known for being chicken, became BIRDCOLONEL. It was wrong, but I’m still proud of it.
9
I was excited to see my name— spelled my way— in this puzzle. I never watched Family Ties but I’ve always known about Elyse Keaton.
6
I haven’t been doing crosswords very much lately, but I am glad I came back for this one. A brilliant funny puzzle and the clue for GENERAL TSO was fantastic. Mazel tov!!
Maybe it’s just me but it seemed very of the moment with the Kavanaugh hearings (brewskis/COLDONES, WITCHTRIAL [not that I think it is all but it has been called one], CADS, INTHEWINGS, MALES). After all the stress of this time it feels good to enjoy a little humor about it in the crosswords.
15
stoRage before stoWage. . . always a good time fora Princess Bride memory..."Mawage, mawage is what bwings us together, today."
9
@Robert Michael Panoff
Hand up for STORAGE.
(Hand raised)
How did I miss the whole DAB dance craze? Now I know I'm getting old.
1
@Audiomagnate
A lot of it was on football fields. . . Dabbing became a celebratory move. It's bobbing the head into the crook of a bent arm that is the signature move.
If you go to youtube and search: cam newton dab
you'll get all the video you want!
@Audio
I am not getting old -- I'm already there -- and I did know about DAB.
So does Betty White, and she's even older than I am.
@Audiomagnate
[Don't tell @otherthings but I had to google Strong Bad "A One the is not Cold is scarcely a One at all."]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XneKTeL-Fxc
I can't think of another name I'd rather see at the top of a Friday puzzle than Robyn Weintraub. I look forward to her puzzles in the same way I have looked forward to seeing Patrick Berry's Friday puzzles. Both provide unrivaled smoothness with super clever cluing. Brava, Robyn, today's puzzle is a true beauty and totally deserving of Jeff Chen's POW!
14
I'm not a regular Chinese food eater (most Asian cuisine lacks the cheese and butter that I crave) but was helped by my memories of this great documentary: http://www.thesearchforgeneraltso.com/
Great fun, great puzzle!
2
Maybe because I’ve been doing Times crosswords for over 60 years, but I found this one pretty easy.
One note about General Tso. I once submitted a puzzle with the definition “Chicken namesake, the early years”. LT TSO. It was rejected- no such person. Jeez.
10
Around Boston at least, it’s usually General Gao who gets credit for the chicken dish.
Until I saw the documentary referenced above, I always pictured two ancient Chinese warlords high above a battle plain, long white beards, colorful silk robes, banners fluttering in the winds, as their armies fought for the naming rights. An epic struggle worthy of poets and painters.
1
Fun Fast Friday! Would have been faster if I was a dancer.... had HEADLINE instead of DEADLINE for a while. Thank you for a sense of accomplishment this morning! Happy weekend to all =)
3
@Amy
I didn't even think of HEADLINE!
1
@Deadline
Shhh!
I had H first too.
1
This is my first time writing. other than to thank the person who so helpfully breaks down the Bee. I started learning to do the NYT Crossword this summer. Had I read Deb's helpful article, I might have used more moderation, but instead, did everything I could get my hands on; Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays. It was a train wreck for a long time, but in the last month or so, it's become really, really fun. This puzzle is my favorite thus far - fun and funny. Glad I committed early to PERIWINKLE, since Cornflower also fit & would have made a terrible mess. Also loved STALEBREAD - a nod to those celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend; although I'm a Stuffing PERSON myself. You have a lovely group here.
21
@Lizziefish - I filled periwinkle in right away, but am tickled with your note that cornflower is also a shade of blue named for a flower, both colors are favorites of mine.
When we were kids, my sibling and I invented a game called "colorgiver" - one kid was the "colorgiver" and was to assign a given color to each of the kids in a lineup - the kid who was "it" then called out colors and if there was a match, that color had to start running a one-on-one game of tag. Very intricate rules, but the colors were specifically limited to the 64-crayola box names. The game got harder right after a change of names from the Crayola company!
5
DC, I had to erase heliotrope before putting in periwinkle.
3
@polymath - Just for you, a bouquet of beautiful heliotrope, from our old friend Scott Joplin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxjNEWpAEao
(This piece may or may not actually be composed by Joplin, the jury is out - either way, it's a lovely little rag from a century ago.)
1
Interesting how DEADLINE and HEADLINE (not to mention LEAD LINE, which is vaguely plausible, too) are 7/8 the same word.
Having put HEADLINE without looking back, it's the spot I had to make a correction. If you solve in a herringbone pattern (i.e. alternating across and down answers), you don't make that kind of mistake.
But there should be a word for when there's a wrong answer that seems so obviously right that you don't even bother to check the cross--and winds up being wrong. Maybe we should give it the eponymous name "HEADLINE".
1
Steve L,
Usually, insiders are bothered by puzzle usage that others don't mind, but this seems to be the rare exception. I've written many headlines and met many deadlines, but I never had a concern about the former.
2
@Steve L
My feeling is that a DEADLINE is a much bigger concern for a journalist than a HEADLINE. In fact many headlines appear to be written with very little concern. Still you have a valid point, and I have also on occasion confidently filled in a seemingly obvious entry without checking the cross, only to discover the error at the end.
In this case, HEADLINE would have produced HAB which, if clued as a Montreal hockey player, would have been a gimme for me, and a source of irritation for most.
2
@Andrew
My point is that HEADLINE was the first thing that came to mind, and since I already had several letters, that pretty much was a lock.
DEADLINE didn't come till much later, when I looked back to see that HAB (which is either a very obscure book of the Bible or a nickname for a Montreal hockey player) was not a modern dance step. DAB came to the surface of my consciousness (mostly through having seen it before in a crossword) and I said, oh yeah, DEADLINE.
Andrew, is an editor not also a journalist? He/she would be concerned with the HEADLINE.
Barry, choosing the correct HEADLINE can make a big difference. Remember "Ford to City: Drop Dead"? Some say it cost him the election.
Thoroughly enjoyed, perhaps a little on the easy side for a Friday. I was held back a bit by having 'canteen' in place of LANTERN.
2
Wonderful puzzle.
Didn't TANEY write the majority opinion in the Dred Scott case? Interesting that such a disturbing bit of history should come up today.
7
archaeoprof,
As you will see when you read the comments, TANEY's authorship and the awkward timing of his appearance were noted here last night.
1
@Barry Ancona
I'm read the comments oldest first, but this is the first instance I've come to about the Taney/Dred Scott connection.
Without Dred Scott, I doubt anyone would remember Taney. I wonder how many remember how to pronounce it?!?!
1
Hi Deadline,
The irony! You always read the comments from oldest to newest, but the one time you appear in the oldest post in the comments, you unwittingly start reading newest to oldest.
An entertaining, VERY enjoyable puzzle that I found Medium.
I only had one real problem -- 25A. First I wanted LUGGAGE, then I thought BAGGAGE, but once I had the S from SCAT (25D), I *knew* the right answer. STOrAGE! But what the heck were RORKER BEES (28D)? I stared at this jumble of letters for much too long.
And I had trouble getting past my mental block for FLASHMOB. I knew that someone had put a link up on another crossword blog blog to this new (for me) phenomenon, but FLASH would not come to me even when I had MOB. Needed the F from FED (10D), which gave me OFF, which jogged my memory. Nor was the link put up that long ago.
If only everyone could create puzzles with so few proper names. It's always a pleasure when that happens. A lovely job, Robyn.
3
SPELLING BEE:
41 words, 153 points. 1 pangram. Bingo.
Hx3, Lx6, Nx6, Ox2, Rx6, Tx15, Ix3
4x22, 5x8, 6x4, 7x2, 8x2, 9x1, 10x1, 11x1
Why do some words from a different language get chosen and not others? Dunno. Japanese & Italian words accepted and not accepted - is it largely dependent on how well Americans know them?
Couple long numerical words and their positional - one of them the pangram.
10
@Wen
The Japanese word NORI (seaweed) is not accepted, even though it's likely to be known by many sushi enthusiasts.
A similar word (but with an unusual letter combination) coming from Shinto architecture is accepted, but is less likely to be known to Americans (except maybe Shintoists and cruciverbalists).
A former Minnesota Twins star has this word as his first name.
ORION was not accepted, as probably should be, but another mythological figure was (and probably should be, because the proper name gave is an eponym for a mollusk).
5
@Steve L
Yes, NORI and the Shinto architecture one were exactly what I was talking about. And ROTINI wasn't accept, but I know that PENNE (from previous SB puzzles) is accepted.
What makes one form of staple made from flour in one culture acceptable and another form of staple made from flour in a different culture not acceptable? Hard to say.
@Wen what do bingo and no bingo refer to?
1
Thank you! The most fun I’ve ever had solving a Friday puzzle. And that clue for General Tso! You made my day Robyn Weintraub.
8
Really good themeless puzzle. Slow beginning with just a word here and there. Then the left side pretty much came together. One word that I knew I knew but simply couldn't retrieve required a full night's sleep. That was POACHER. I seem to be the only one who didn't know MINDMELD.
I think my favorite was IN THE WINGS. Great job, Robyn.
2
27-down is incorrectly clued. “Code,” when referring to computer source code, is a collective noun. You can refer to “a line of code” or “a source code file” but you can’t refer to “a code” when talking about source code.
4
@Ken Ficara
You say "incorrectly clued". Others might say, "typical late-week misdirection".
You'd all be somewhat right.
1
@Steve L Actually, it isn't misdirection, it is wrong as Ken stated. The problem is with the word "a". I'll give you an example... "I was a feet behind him". that's obviously incorrect, as feet is more than one foot. In the world of computer programming, the same is true of the word "Code". When you are talking about computer instruction code, it is a plural noun, always. Putting an "a" in front of it actually changes the entire meaning of the clue, since the word Code can also be used to refer to a secret number, such as an access code to punch into the keypad to open your garage door. The term Open Source, however, refers only to computer code, and not the type of code that opens your garage door... hence the clue is actually incorrect.
1
@Steve Faiella
All of what you say is true and correct and I didn't really need it explained to me (except for the assertion that "code" is a plural noun; it is a collective noun, in singular form, grammatically).
I'm talking about the conventions of crossword cluing, which allows slight changes in usage. Any time something like this comes up, someone cries foul, but they keep coming up again and again. They're considered misdirection, even if they're diabolical.
1
Am I the only one who had Col Sanders instead of General Tso? Didn't take me long to figure that it was wrong, and after fixing that mistake, the puzzle was a breeze. Loved it.
4
@Marcia Fidler
The Colonel in Colonel Sanders is an honorary title in the state of Kentucky. It's sorta their version of knighthood.
(Sanders got his title during a governorship in which over 5000 titles were handed out in a four-year period, after which subsequent governors went back to the original practice of giving out about a dozen a year.)
It has nothing to do with military service.
I got the GENERAL without thinking of the Colonel, but I'm not really sure if that was just luck, my subconscious not classifying the latter as military, or my considering a general a "leader" before getting to colonels.
1
Don't be cross:
GENERAL, with no thought of Colonel,
because POACHER.
Wonderful puzzle -- one of the best for me in recent memory, especially for a themeless. I can't think of the last time the fill was so clean and remarkably free of crossword-ese. More from Ms. Weintraub, please!
8
@Ben
"free of crossword-ese"
except for APSE, EWE, ETAL, and ARIL. :)
This may be my favorite themeless puzzle ever. Wasn't all that easy for me, but it ended up being doable and in a very enjoyable way, as a long answer would dawn on me and let me fill in an area, or a couple of short answers would lead to the long answer, and so forth.
Was I the only who tried STERNUM before RIBCAGE? I actually had a memorable experience many years ago in which my sternum was precisely a 'protector of the heart.'
Just look at all the answers that have never been in a puzzle before, or at least never in the Shortz era: ANDWEREOFF, PERIWINKLE, GOLDCOIN, WITCHTRIAL, GENERALTSO, SETARECORD, MINDMELD, WORKERBEES and POACHER. All very much in the language. That's very impressive. Even DEADLINE hadn't appeared in a puzzle in 14 years, and of course I was happy to see that. I can understand the 'headline' frustration, but that never crossed my mind.
A personal note in a reply.
13
As mentioned above, a personal note.
We had to have Vida, my avatar, put down two days ago. She'd been having a number of problems recently but finally stopped eating altogether and we knew it was time.
We acquired her almost 14 years ago. At the time we had just seen the movie 'Frida' (which is still a favorite), and this song from the soundtrack was the inspiration for her name:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOcjPbP2Img
Still love the song, but had never understood the lyrics beyond the title and never looked them up until yesterday. This is the translation of the first line:
Long live the life,
that yesterday, that yesterday
left us.
5
@Rich in Atlanta
So so sorry to hear. My heart is with you...
1
Sorry, Rich.
1
A couple of years ago, Robyn decided to focus on themeless puzzles (this is her 10th in a row), and they've been getting more and more polished. With today's puzzle, she has fully arrived, come into her own, become a master of her art, IMO. The puzzle is playful and energetic -- signature Weintraub qualities -- yet nowhere does it feel like she's tried too hard.
There is lovely wordplay (clues for GENERAL TSO, POACHER, even CLUBS, i.e.), plus a most memorable 1A, and the abutting MONEY and GOLD COIN (hi, @robert!). The puzzle is tuned perfectly for Friday, and as your resident alphadoppeltotter, I must report that it has an unusually low double letter count (3), the lowest in more than a year.
Was it a wise decision to move to themeless puzzles, Robyn? I believe you've earned the right to say I TOLD YOU SO.
16
This was a pleasure to solve, something I can't always say on a themeless day. I seemed to be on Robyn's wave length as virtually all my guesses turned out to be correct. I did have to google the two actresses, but that was it.
I'm looking forward to DEADLINE's comment.
I'm off to San Francisco at 6:00am tomorrow so my comments will be rather different timings. One of the things on the agenda is a visit to the Magritte exhibition on Thursday.
4
@suejean
Bon Voyage! Enjoy your U.S. visit!
@suejean
Have a great trip, and enjoy the Magritte.
But I expect to hear from you daily even on your travels; I always look forward to your contributions.
I was getting nowhere fast until I filled in MINDMELD, and then it all came rather quickly. A very enjoyable solve.
1
Another puzzle with a good flavor, and clues that could be described as ham on wry. (Ok, hit me with a borscht belt.)
From BBC Food: MACE is the lacy outer layer (or ARIL) that covers the nutmeg. (Posh spice or old spice?)
STALEBREAD: Alton Brown in the past would dogmatically state "stuffing is evil" presaging the possibility of your thanksgivingers ingesting a sufficient inoculum to come down with salmonellosis. And what would dressing be without sage...advice?
For my last TG, I made a lamb tagine with the wonderful ras el hanout spice blend. The more Moroccan, the better for my tastes.
On another note, we see Scotus references: TANEY, the Chief Justice handed down the Dred Scott decision while wearing his red Make America Racist Again snap back cap. COLDONE: best describes candidate Judge Crocodile Tears in His Beers.
13
GENERAL TSO had me hungry for Chinese food till you posted this. My daughter married a man from Morocco and his sister is *the* best cook. I’ve learned how to make tagine myself and I have some of her bread - I might just have to do that instead!
Fantastic Friday puzzle. So many great entries in the grid. And many great or tricky clues to go with them, starting with AND WE'RE OFF. After a couple of mostly empty passes, finally lucked out and caught on a few long entries. After that it went pretty quickly, and I nearly SET A RECORD for personal best for Friday.
Great to see DEADLINE as Barry already said a couple of times.
Agreed with @Gary K re: OPEN SOURCE being "code," not "a code"
I kept thinking PERIWINKLE was named after the mollusks, which, admittedly always had me scratching my head.
Knew ELYSE and even though we had it earlier this year, kept forgetting it's spelled with a Y. Maybe easier to remember it's spelled different from Beethoven's.
Didn't know people used STALE BREAD to make dressing, and after reading Caitlin's note, vaguely remembered that some people call the non-stuff that is served with the turkey dressing.
Great to see MIND MELD, because Spock.
Liked the clue for SITE, NENE, POACHER, CLICHE, CLUBS, SERTA.
Lastly, WORKER BEES?! No, these BEES here are the Spelling kind.
3
@Wen
I think I said this before, the last time we had dressing/stuffing chitchat.
My grandmother's Thanksgiving turkey had both stuffing, the bread-based mixture with the sage that went in the major cavity of the bird, and dressing, the meat-based mixture that went under the skin around the neck/top o f the breast.
@Wen I believe the distinction is that if it's cooked inside the bird it's stuffing; otherwise it's dressing. I hear that the former is going out of fashion because of health concerns.
Wonderful, satisfying, well-clued. Hurrah!
5
“A One that is not Cold is scarcely a One at all.” -Strong Bad
5
Like Caitlin, I carried a tentpole, until it became obvious it was not. Who takes one tentpole camping?, I asked myself.
GENERAL TSO, that was well done! AND WERE OFF, it took me a bit to fill that one in enough to tell what it was - it really was a perfect clue and answer.
There was so much to enjoy about the puzzle. Best of all was it was doable; all the answers were normal words. Very, very nicely done.
6
and Elke
This puzzle was right on the MONEY, which is right on top a GOLD COIN.
Like others, enjoyed especially the GENERAL T'SO clue. Speaking of food, it's turkey stuffing time HERE in Canada (Thanksgiving Day is this weekend. Being further north, harvesting occurs earlier ). Instead of STALE BREAD, rice mixed with wild rice, is the preferred filler. May or may not contain the spice MACE. No stuffing IN THE WINGS though.
This WORKER BEE is 2 words short of QB- feel like a real SCHMO; Robyn - thanks for really rubbing it in- there is a second S(C)HMO hidden in the FLA(SHMO)B :)
Table decoration - longSTEMmed roses thanks to Leapy- but no PERIWINKLEs (neither flora nor fauna ) .
Happy Thanksgiving. Much to be thankful for.
4
My ‘Wheelhouse’ puzzle - with good clues, like
MINDMELD, Chicken associated with military leaders, the Colonel being another one!
Yesterday’s BIBI had me flummoxed, leaving no time to express joy on the mention of our very own SEATAC - with a serving of DAL (incidentally also a lake in Kashmir) to boot.
2
Good puzzle with lots of lively entries, but I want to nitpick one clue. (Will is usually so careful to make them precise.) They clued 27-Down by "Like a code anyone can use," but who would ever say "a code" here rather than just "code"? One would say "I'm writing code" and not "I'm writing a code."
5
@Gary K It was precisely the observation that laypeople often say "a code" where we practitioners would just use "code" that gave me this entry right off.
2
You’re absolutely right, and the clue is dead wrong.
Code, in the sense of software development, is a mass noun like rice or water. The countable noun form “a code” or “some codes” does not and cannot refer to software, only to ciphers and cryptograms and whatnot. Totally different meaning and usage.
A code that is open source would be a very ineffective code indeed.
2
Agreed, as a coder earlier in my career. I had OPEN SECRET first—that would be “a code”.
2
I finished the in good time, but no fanfare. Hmmm... checked everything a couple times... still looks OK. Finally zeroed in on the dance move at 35a. Was not familiar with the "hAB", but the crosses looked good.
Then I got to thinking about what makes a good hEADLINE. A perfect coif? Maybe a little Pomade... or Brylcreem?! A little DAB will do ya? Bingo... our newsroom concern is not just any old hEADLINE, but our very own DEADLINE.
So congrats, DEADLINE. You know your really somebody when you've been featured in a NYT Xword puzzle!
7
@Mike R
Thank you.
3
One tiny gripe I just remembered (and please correct me if I’m wrong): clue for CLICHÉ (noun) should be “A kid in a candy shop, e.g.” instead of “Like a kid in a candy shop, e.g.” The inclusion of ‘like’ refers to an adjective, which is always CLICHÉD, I believe.
1
@Austin I interpreted the whole phrase ("Like a kid in a candy shop") as the CLICHÉ—but if the clue had had the quotes, it might have been too easy for a Friday?
4
@rsfinn Doi! You’re right. I was in grammarian hyperdrive mode.
2
And, fwiw, some dictionaries also include cliché as an adjective.
1
Funny to have the dab and the nene but no whip...
hee hee
12
ask your nearest latency age boy ca. 2018 about a dab and he will do one promptly, though he's likely already in the middle of one. It's also a great way for him to learn how not to cough or sneeze on other people.
1
I've never tried constructing but if I do I promise I'll make "stanky leg" one of the seed entries.
1
@All
Thanks to my popular-culture-aware wife for DAB. I assume you know, DC, that the other dance you mention is spelled nae-nae?
Had to look up TANEY but otherwise, this was a gorgeously-clued Friday with sturdy gridwork. Loved every moment right up to the last fill, which, for me, oddly enough, was 1A!
2
@Austin
Taney will be forever notorious for penning the Dred Scott decision.
2
@Gary K ‘An indirect catalyst to the Civil War’—wow. I … have things to brush up on
2
@Austin
Well since most of us in the USA can't even name your current Prime Minister...
2
The best gluten-free stuffings are made with rice, just saying.
1
A wonderful way to start the puzzle with 1A. And then to finish, for the first time (thank you Xword Info) we get the general with his full title and name together.
3
I was pretty sure 22D would be some kind of TENTS. Once I had worked out that they were LAN TENTS, it didn't take too long for the light to come on as they morphed into LANTERNS. In the meantime, though, I had a nice vision of some tents, connected on a high-speed data network, probably inhabited by techy WORKER BEES trading OPEN SOURCE code in the woods.
Oh, and I really liked the clue for 58A, and did both smile and groan.
4
Well, there are either 6 comments now--or 3 comments--or 4 comments. I hope this isn't a foretaste of comments wackiness today.
This was delightfully chewy and interesting. I loved the clue for GENERAL TSO. Wanted TENT-something for LANTERNS, but STOWAGE worked, so I reworked the area. I was thinking salad dressing for 17A as well, and was surprised to see STALE BREAD fill in.
I was thinking of linking to Jimmy Buffett's song CLICHEs, but I listened to it again and there really aren't that many clichés in it! Alas.
went pretty fast. COLD ONE apt for today's headlines. What would Roger TANEY think?
7
@judy d: Chief Justice Taney wrote the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, so I wouldn't look to him for much enlightenment.
3
@judy d: Violated my normal practice of reading all other posts before commenting. Sorry for piling on.
Had to look up ELYSE, otherwise quick and easy.
Peter Ansoff,
I didn't remember her name either. I didn't watch the show, and I didn't recall her from 19 prior Shortz era appearances as clued. But I didn't have to look her up. Which of the five crossing words did you *also* not know shy one letter?
ELYSE came to me immediately although I had to toggle between I and Y for the third letter. Family Ties was one of the few shows I actually watched back in the day.
@Andrew
You weren't familiar with the Tony awards?
I did share my thoughts a few minutes ago, but my post must be waiting IN THE WINGS.
I noted that I was happy to see DEADLINE in the puzzle.
Will this post? Will the earlier post post?
Waiting to see if the comments can start as well as the puzzle:
AND WE'RE OFF...or maybe not?
(My two posts, which appeared at the same time, were submitted eight minutes apart. Perhaps the emus were eating their GENERAL TSO's Chicken and having a COLD ONE before opening the comments, or maybe somebody TINKERED with the system.)
1
Knowing nothing of modern pop dancing, I got stuck at 35. HEADLINE? LEAD LINE? ... oh!
Everything else was easy and elegant, with just enough struggle.
I had canteens not lanterns for a bit and was quite happy with myself
1
Nice to see you in the puzzle, DEADLINE!
(Had you been waiting INTHEWINGS?)
4
Locked into HEADLINE which left me waiting INTHEWINGS for the happy music.
1
@Brian
My predicament precisely.
Leadline or ledeline were possibilities.