(headslap)
Deb, just made the connection.
"No running with cheese!"
I love CROCUSes--I lived in New England years ago, and it was a true harbinger of Spring when the crocuses would start to poke up through the snow.
I finally was annoyed enough by OATY to try to determine its earliest usage--I've been convinced that it is ad-speak. Oh odius OATY! I'm wrong of course.
2
GOTTARUN was so fresh & unexpected for the reveal, it made me laugh.
I join everybody who wanted to find a friend for the rodent. I knew it wasn't a snake.
Terrific puzzle! Thank you Erik Agard.
3
Loved this puzzle! So much fun with GOTTARUN—whatta great theme. And a quick solve, too.
The cluing was so clever. I really liked OUST, PETRAT, HEIST, HOTHOTHOT, and DUKEITOUT.
I like my eggs scrambled or over medium hard—my FRIEDEGGS ain’t GOnnA RUN.
;-)
2
PETINUES -- Favored advisory groups.
RATINUES -- Disfavored advisory groups.
5
Reading the comments re: "Auntie" - and not intending anything negative or personal toward any commenters - it's part of a whole stream of language and usage that is distinct between white and not-so-white. Other examples: bae, nae-nae, aight ... many have become topics here and elsewhere of the "I've never heard it - nobody I know uses it" kind. Likewise, complaints about rappers (Nas) or movies (Madea) or TV (blackish...).
The thing is, the complaints - I'm certain it's unintentional - amount to dismissals of a range of experience shared by not-so-white people - i.e., they add up to a confession of lack of experience outside of white mainstream culture and, accidentally, to a dismissal of the same (or a seeming intolerance).
"Auntie" is a great example - brown/black usage is fairly uniform, it's a term of address or a title, in regular usage. It isn't used that way in US white culture. Though someone white may have an Auntie June, it isn't seen as other than an endearment, a variant of Aunt June.
I guess I'd like to encourage those who are put off by these incursions of non-white culture & language into the crosswords, to appreciate having at least this minimal exposure to the lives of people who live in a different part of our same world. And perhaps to find room for this language in our little worldlet here.
51
@David Connell - Hear, hear! Thank you for this. I'm Chinese American and love having the children of my Asian American friends call me Auntie. I don't listen to rap, but I don't mind it when rap artists appear in the puzzle. Interestingly, I've been doing the earliest puzzles in the archive, and I find them more challenging than the current typical NYT crosswords. Even though I lived through the '90s, many of the cultural references are unfamiliar. The way I see it, it just makes the crossword more challenging, and if I have to Google something to finish a puzzle, so be it. There's a lot more out there than mainstream white culture.
11
@David Connell
I was the one who made the comment about AIGHT. Although I am white, I think my bona fides come from working for 40 years in the minority community of Morrisania in the South Bronx. I don't make comments about most of the terms you mentioned, such as NAE NAE and BAE and rappers (although I'm not impressed with rap music). I've heard of all of those and I recognize that rap is part of the American songbook by now. (I don't care much for opera either, even as I recognize how skillful opera singers must be.) I'm well aware of why it's Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, and I'll also mention that the equivalent for adults speaking to older adults is using Mr. or Miss (perhaps pronounced more like Ms.) with the first name, much as Steve Harvey often does with older contestants on Family Feud (even though he's about 60 himself.)
In, short, I think you paint your scenario with too broad a brush.
@David Connell
A quibble. While "AUNTIE" and "uncle" get used _within_ the African-American community, a white person addressing a black person that way echoes slavery and jimcrowism.
I've been on the receiving end of the occasional "AUNTIE" from African-Americans, and I don't like it. But it doesn't bother me nearly so much as when someone -- usually black or Latinx -- address me as "mommy" or "mami."
2
Most enjoyable Tuesday in a long time. An adorable, playful theme; more resistance than I expected, especially in the SW; and best of all (and most unexpected from Erik Agard) almost NO NAMES!!!! Yay!!!! Some thoughts:
I, too, misinterpreted 37D and was asking myself: What idiot wants to be friends with a rodent?
Didn't remember that it's WHOOPI, not WHOOPIE. But when I finally wrote WHOOPI in, it looked right.
I'm an older woman and if you call me AUNTIE, I'll get really TESTY. I might even challenge you to DUKE IT OUT.
I always look for the most mindless and obvious titles for pop songs. So that when I had HOT------, I was thinking HOT FOR YOU. But it turned out to be even more mindless than that, as in HOT HOT HOT.
There are no surprises from a scrambled EGG -- my daily EGG of choice. It's never going to tell you that it's GOTTA RUN. I don't make or order FRIED EGGs, because the yolk either ends up completely uncooked or unpleasantly hard.
Really good puzzle, Erik. More like this, please.
1
@Nancy The movies Willard and Ben were two awful 70's movies about rodent companions. I was shocked to discover that someone actually remade Willard in 2003 with Crispin Glover. Ick, ick, ick.
1
@Nancy, My fried eggs are always perfect, i.e. Cooked through with slightly runny yolk, but I absolutely cannot poach an egg, no matter what equipment I use.
1
I'll take the rat over Crispin Glover.
I see we have the inescapable return of the ultimate degree in 60D.
I also have two serious quibbles in that regard. (Not agard, note).
First, it can't possibly be the last one. In math there is also the (n + 1) th which follows (by induction).
Second, there is also the PhD. For most professionals that's their last degree. So PHD is really the correct fill.
2
"So PHD is really the correct fill."
Did anyone else immediately think: "only if it works with the crossing clues?"
Hmm, whoever is in charge of clues today seems woefully out of touch with Kindergarten curriculum; the child who arrives on the first day of Kg not knowing the ABCS is already behind. I'm not saying it's better, but it's the reality in this day and age.
And most of us would be more specific about our FRIED EGGs; over easy or FRIED hard, eh?
But of course it was a very Tuesday puzzle, and Erik Agard is welcome here for breakfast any time. Busy week ahead (travel and return), so GOTTA RUN!
3
MOL,
The ABCS clue says "instruction," not "introduction."
And remember to keep your sunny side up.
4
Excellent puzzle, fresh and clever, with a strong Aha! moment at the theme reveal. And the coup de grace, which holds the entire puzzle together like the keystone of an arch, which lends to this work of crossword art a panache that will make us all smile, is 58A: LATIN.
3
Hot dog another Tuesday puzzle and I’m psyched for it because the last ... three or so have been wily as a coyote on rocket roller skates. I got you though, Tuesday. I traced your CROCUS over the REMAKE, I rode the FRIEDEGG past the dialog; it was all fun and games until UHURA had to SWAT those NONAMES but then, finally it all fell into place.
No wait ... what? Double check my knots, the sail is high, the wind is ... steady ... I’m in the doldrums though - this can’t be right! How am I not moving?!?! Where is the snafu?
WOMANIAM I thought, a riff on roaring. How I missed IRS I don’t know, because an IRA is tax free.
Ugh. I apologize, Alice Walker.
2
Today we have it: crossword theory popularized by Deb Amlen, an aVOWED nerd, as we recently learned. Hooray! My kind of -ism. (More precisely, one of my kinds of isms.)
Plus, TIL about soca.
1
If I could convince myself that my Monte Python loving child, I'd have snapped this up while shopping for son's birthday. I may have to get it for myself just to laugh out loud every hour! https://shop.pbs.org/monty-python-ministry-of-silly-walks-watch/product/MPMS501 We all need more Monte Python in our lives daily!
1
@Liane
Thanks for the link! I would get one in a second but it looks like they are out of stock. After some brief research I found that the watch came from this company. I am thinking that they may have run into copyright issues because it is not there anymore, although they have quite a few equally silly watches.
https://philosophersguild.com/collections/watches
1
@Andrew I overthought that one. Should have bought toot sweet! I think they will return again. Apparently they have been out for several years. Who knew?
Find yourself in Clear Lake Iowa, stay at the Historic Park Inn: HOTEL deign by Frank LLoyd Wright.
Liked the fact a SAINT was above the GHOULS.
Back to work....sigh. Only 18 more months.
Thanks Erik
2
dk,
I see you're off I-80 (and on US 18?). Too late in the year to catch the National Hobo Convention in Britt. While in Crystal Lake, I hope you stopped in at the Surf Ballroom (if not also at the field where "the music died"). Did you sing your way through River (I mean Mason) City? Only one state away now...
3
Thanks for the warning. I went to a school with buildings and walkways designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (Flordia Southern). ....and his constructions were hell to live with. More recently, the relocated house now on the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum attests to FLW's attention to detail--except for the horrid little hole that is supposed to be a kitchen; what did he have against cooks?
1
@Mean Old Lady
FLW was undoubtedly a great designer but the homes I have visited are not built for people who cook, clean, put away clothes, or relax. I think they are great for cocktail parties, though. On sunny, warm days.
Who? The Royals
What? A personal disquisition
When? Late ‘77
Where? The U. K.
Why? Attachment possibility
Upon meeting Lady Sarah’s younger sister, this query was overheard echoing around Windsor hallways:
Prince Charles: “CAN DI DATE?”
9
@brutus
Groan.
Very nice puzzle. One of the few times when getting the reveal made me CA (chuckle aloud).
Mostly smooth solve with the exception of the NE, where I forgot WOMANISM, had DVR before VCR and had no idea on 2d. VOWED seems obvious now, but I was just all, well, crossed up on other things.
OPI appeared in a puzzle two days ago (3 of its 4 total appearances have been this year), and I still forgot it (not that that was a problem). Maybe it will stick with me this time.
8
@Rich in Atlanta Ditto on my experience with OPI. Guess it's time to commit that one to memory. Since my brain now requires one-for-one replacement, I will now never remember who led the National League in home runs in 1942.
10
@Rich in Atlanta
Here's to dvR before VCR, and same experience with VOWED.
Also, ditto OPI. Thanks to my wife for that one!
2
Like Deb, I was and still am a huge Monty Python fan, and could probably find some sort of connection to Python with any given entry. Today I will choose 58A - LATIN - to post a link to one of my favourite scenes from the hilarious and irreverent Life of Brian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAdHEwiAy8
6
This puzzle was over easy.
(No running)
13
Time to give this kind of theme a name.
What game show does this set of hints remind you of?
Celebrity partner: "A FRIED EGG. A COMPUTER PROGRAM. A CANDIDATE. An EDITORIAL."
Contestant: "Things that run!"
This kind of theme could be a PYRAMID theme.
The current game is The $100,000 Pyramid. It began as The $10,000 Pyramid in 1973, but there was inflation.
5
@Steve L
I was actually on the Pyramid show ($20,000 incarnation), with Dick Clark as the host. My partner was a soap actress who I don't think went very far in her career, but man, she was smart as can be.
8
@Lewis
Was it Meg Bennett by any chance?
@Johanna
Sorry to say, I don't remember her name!
Deb, I fully agree with the essence of your column today. It is a game, after all. And I like to learn stuff.
7
From the NYT Magazine last week:
"NASA researchers say the accelerated destruction of BORNEO’s forests contributed to the largest single-year global increase in carbon emissions in two millenniums, an explosion that transformed Indonesia into the world’s fourth-largest source of such emissions."
Your FRIEDEGG will soon routinely be coming from the sidewalk.
GOTTARUN. Even though there'll be no place to hide.
6
@Blue Moon
Yes, stripping the forests to plant oil-palm trees. Palm oil is a lucrative crop encouraged by Western nations to add vegetable oils to fuels to lessen pollution. Perversely, the release of carbon from the clearing and burning of the forests more than cancels the savings from the cleaner fuel!
Excellent article in your home-town paper:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/magazine/palm-oil-borneo-climate-catastrophe.html
2
“A mere act of optimism to pose the question in the first place.” Thanks for the Python clip. Very funny. That quote of Cleese as he awaits another negative response from the shopkeeper describes my mindset whenever I open a Saturday puzzle. No Limberger today, sorry; I will gladly settle for a 2 strike over solve...As Deb seeks Python, I search for songs. There were plenty to opt for today. I ended up with Neil Young’s “Long May You RUN” and Pink Floyd’s “RUN Like Hell.”
https://youtu.be/zjxz90hLYtw
https://youtu.be/zFN7E-4URcA
I Bid You Adieu,
Bru
4
Bru,
I'm running behind, but I will mention Jackson Browne.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq25ZJwZJzU
2
@brutus
Velvet Underground:
Teenage Mary said to Uncle Dave
I sold my soul, must be saved
Gonna take a walk down to Union Square
You never know who you're gonna find there
You gotta run, run, run, run, run
Take a drag or two
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bp-ihtgzdE
2
@Justin
Aah, The Square; where S. Klein would never tell Mays. Automatic recco for the V. U. link.
2
I've learned that a clean grid is a given with Erik, so no surprise that this puzzle is pristine, plus it seems just right for someone with a touch of solving experience, which is what Tuesday should be. It also has answers that strike my fancy -- GHOULS, HEIST, DUKE IT OUT, RETINUES, PET RAT and NO NAMES. Just 10 days ago, Erik (with Doug Peterson) did a Saturday offering. This guy has range, and if you look at the 29 puzzles he has published in the NYT, they're all over the week.
And thank you Erik, I have now found a mantra for the next two years: URGENT, DUKE IT OUT, OUST, WHOOPI!
5
@Lewis
Could you please give me your experienced description of a "clean grid?" Thanks!
1
@Ron
Clean grid is completely or almost completely free of "crosswordese" -- out-of-the-language words that help constructors fill spots where no in-the-language words will work (examples: OBI. ALAI, ENT, APSE, ETE, OLEO, APER, ASTA). It also doesn't have too many abbreviations and initialisms, which aren't of much interest.
@Lewis
Thanks! I thought "clean grid" had to do with the layout (location of black squares).
Not only a new best time, but I think this was my first solve with absolutely no lookups or hints. Some of the clues such as “The a in BART” only came apparent with crossings (again, regional things that usually trip me up) but it all fell into place. I dug the linked clues for today, as well.
And now, I GOTTTARUN.
4
Tuesday’s Wee-Bee:
Words: 34
Score: 143 pts
Pangrams: 1
Bingo: yes
D x 4
I x 1
M x 11
N x 2
O x 4
P x 10
T x 2
4L x 14
5L x 7
6L x 7
7L x 3
8L x 3
4 5 6 7 8 Tot
D 2 - 1 - 1 4
I 1 - - - - 1
M 5 2 2 1 1 11
N 1 - 1 - - 2
O 1 1 1 1 - 4
P 2 4 2 1 1 10
T 2 - - - - 2
Tot 14 7 7 3 3 34
Though it’s a little early in the week for today’s pangram...
10
My first QB in quite some time with no help - or indeed outright cheating - at all.
A couple of potential oddities, but on the whole eminently doable.
3
Notably missing: TINPOT, a very relevant word these days.
10
I got to genius before finding the pangram. Off.
2
Now I'm really hungry.
This went really fast, but I certainly couldn't see any connection between the theme answers ( and I really tried) so when did reveal the reveal I was an "oh, that's clever" moment rather than AHA. Very cute.
And now I am about to fry an egg.
5
@suejean Happy birthday!!
..
2
@Rich , thank you very much, always nice to hear from you
@suejean
Hope you're having a very happy birthday, Suejean!
1
This one wasn’t like “normal” Tuesday puzzles
1
TIL from Deb that "'pop' is a synonym for SWAT." I'm now going to unlearn that assertion, because I don't believe it.
@paulymath
Don’t make Deb pop you one.
3
@paulymath
But nowadays, SWATTING is not quite as synonymous with POPPING.
@Wen
Let's see now ....you swat a fly with a fly swatter but you pop a fly with a bat?
Alan's FRIED EGG and Bacon Sandwich:
I stumbled onto this combination somewhere along the way, and though I suppose something like it has been done many times before, I consider this to be my one and only original recipe:
- 1 lightly toasted whole wheat "sandwich thin" bread.
- 1 sandwich-sized slice of good quality cheddar cheese (I like extra sharp). Let the toasted bread melt the cheese between the top and bottom while it's hot, but don't let the cheese fuse the top and bottom together, about 15 seconds.
- 1 slice of bacon cut into thirds and fried to taste (crisp is how I like it). The third-length pieces should fit nicely side by side on the bread.
- 1 or 2 "over-hard" FRIED EGGs (if 2, merge together into a single egg patty). Fold the egg patty to the size of the bread. Must be hard fried so the yolk doesn't run when you bite into the sandwich.
- Stack it all up on the bottom half of the bread, close the top of the bread over it, and enjoy.
Yum! My favorite breakfast!
8
@Alan J
For those who like runny egg yolks, do as Alan says (the bacon can be omitted) but with an over easy egg. Place the egg on the cheese, slit the yolk, dab the other piece of toast with yolk until the yolk will no longer run when the sandwich is put together and enjoy.
5
@Alan J
There's a great scene in "Spanglish" that shows how it's done.
3
A baseball players swats a home run, or at least a double or triple. The player does not swat a pop fly.
As for house flies, people swat them. I'm curious. Do they also pop them?
@Peter Jackel
Thinking beyond baseball and household pests, “swat” and “pop” are both synonyms for striking a physical blow, as in my father’s favorite phrase: “Don’t make me pop you one.”
1
Though a fly might actually pop when you swat it.
1
Peter, ever swat fungos at practice?
https://youtu.be/xJv9yhT-p4U
1
In my recipe book a properly cooked fried egg runs, but I don't think that is a mandatory way to fry an egg. I know many people who don't like runny eggs and would have a hard time with this answer.
1
@Peter Jackel, what do those people dip their toast in?
6
@Peter Jackel those are not people you should regard as friends. They should be regarded through two-way mirrors for observation.
5
@ all
A properly fried egg is over easy. A healthy egg is yolkless.
1
Groan-worthy theme, but in a good way.
3
Excellent fun, even if there is no cheese available.
I've only been doing the NYT Crossword since August when my brother turned me on to them. Today I extended my streak to 31 days! Maybe the Times could put the longest recorded streak on their website? Maybe other overall solve statistics?
I am sure that will take me down a peg or two. It would be fun to see though and something to aspire to.
I am reminded of a New Yorker Cartoon - two guys standing in a room looking at something small framed over the mantel of a fireplace, one guy saying... "NYT Crossword, Sunday July 17, 1987, 17 minutes 19 seconds, ballpoint".
Cheers
14
@Ian
David Connell recently reported that his streak is up over 1000. I can't imagine getting anywhere close to that! Truly boggles my mind.
@Liz B - 1213 today.
Stick-to-it-ivity.
4
and Elke
This was fun- especially with the Monty Python revealer of 'runny' cheese(s). Reminds me to never (again) go on a train trip with a lunch packed with runny limburger......
While we had to know our ABCS, Greek's RHO and ETA and LATIN were also useful.
Of course local (Vancouver )boy- SETH Rogen - was an easy one.
He recently had a local gig with the transit company making their loudspeaker announcements, after the previous guy, Morgan Freeman, 'had to run' :
https://globalnews.ca/news/4354920/seth-rogen-vancouver-transit/
PS-wish I had seen Erik's picture for yesterday's Spelling Bee- missed QB by one 4-letter U-word (UPDO).
1
@Deb
Don’t forget that WHOOPI Goldberg is an EGOT, so any of the Big Four awards would fit that clue.
2
Probably took Mr. Agard less time to write it that it did for me to solve.
3
“AUNTIE” as a term of respect for all adult women, whether they are kin on not, is especially prevalent in Hawaii. It’s a local thing.
4
Also in Russian! (And several other languages.)
3
And also in Indigenous Australia.
2
Interesting! I am the AUNTIE of two, Great-aunt of two. Given the importance in my life of my AUNT Lucy and my Great-AUNT Pearl, I see it as a title of honor.... but no one says AUNTIE as a rule, and I think that's too bad!
Yet another fun puzzle! I actually solved it a bit faster than Monday's, but the cluing was a treat. I also twisted my brain around SUN GOD.
This is shaping up to be a good week, made better by having gotten to Queen Bee in the Spelling Bee on Sunday and Monday.
1
The sub-theme of The Color Purple made this one a winner for me.
2
@Puzzlemucker Noticed that too, and not just because of the Whoopi Goldberg/Alice Walker connection.
A couple of other clues/answers nfortunately also fit with that theme.
@Rich in Atlanta Oh *THAT* Alice Walker! I kept thinking Alice Waters and her fresh food activism! D'oh! (Don't get old.)
“Erik Agard bids us adieu.”
Even though I had just completed the puzzle and figured out the theme, this line made me do a double-take. Don’t scare me like that! I want many more Erik Agard puzzles in the NYT!
21
It takes a special mind to come up with a set of theme entries like these! I did figure out how they exemplified the reveal before coming to the column, but FRIED EGG nearly stumped me.
Otherwise, it was an interesting assortment of words in the puzzle, with BEGETS and RETINUES and WOMANISM. I tried to think of the name of a particular SUN GOD at first, and of someone who was companion to a rodent before a name for the rodent companion--PETRA T?--but no. So there were SLY misdirects as well.
10
Easy breezy extra fast Tuesday solve. Will struggle to get to sleep after "rodent companion". Why oh why, Erik Agard, did you have to remind me of this Michael Jackson song and the awful movie it went with? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWaXs8X8Tkc
3
The entry in the puzzle is WOMANISM, not WOMANIST.
6
@balshetzer
Too true. But enquiring minds want to know if it is the debut of womanism!
@Wolfe This is the first appearance of WOMANISM in a Times puzzle.
But I have a feeling that's not what you were asking.
Wolfe,
Yes, it is a debut for WOMANISM, so Deb's column reference to "womanist" is a typographical but not factual error.
1
That was quick fun with a cute theme. I enjoyed 2D as a fun clue for a bit of common crosswordese.
1