I thought the FASHION POLICE theme was kinda fun. DUST JACKET was favorite and FOLLOW SUIT least so.
Been grands sitting all day and am beginning to doze off. Parents are going to a Christmas party, so day is not nearly over. Glad the puzzle was so doable.
:-)
1
Went down the Comments and reached the Wee Bee commentary. Tee hee, I'm so delighted that I've offended Peter W on so many occasions. If only I'd known how much it was bugging him, I'd have told about trying to pack my quilting books and gone into detail about how I'm the last person in America who irons napkins...
2
@Mean Old Lady I occasionally iron napkins. Not on a regular basis, but if I need to iron other things, I think to myself, "Well, since I have the iron out, I may as well do the napkins." Then I start with the napkins, since they are actually rather fun to iron. Then maybe a skirt, also not too bad. Then I decide that's plenty of ironing for one day and ignore all the dress shirts that were the reason I got out the iron in the first place!
3
@Mean Old Lady.
I iron sheets, napkins. I find it calming. Peter W. Might benefit from some ironing therapy!
I iron napkins, towels, sheets, pillowcases, handkerchiefs -- I iron everything except socks. I don't understand not ironing! The idea of an un-ironed shirt makes me shudder...
MOL, you ain't the last person. I will be found with an iron in my hand when they cart me away.
This:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qysz2wmfEiI
1
Lateness is my middle name (since I don't have one on the birth certificate!) Well, it's been a busy day... there is always about an hour of house-keeping work, then there was laundry (because clean sheets are one of life's pleasures), and then it has been sunny and warmer, so I tackled Day 2 of asparagus bed clean-up. There was also Day 1 of pot roast prep. The house smells divine.
(There is work to be done in every season of asparagus culture. Why doesn't someone do a puzzle about the chores? It's slightly early to be cutting the dead stalks back at the ground level, but the storms have made such a mess that I went ahead. There is also weeding to be done. Once it's cleared, I will lightly salt the bed. When the shoots emerge in the Spring, it will all be well worth the work!)
I can't tell you how many people don't know exactly how the asparagus gets to their plates....
I'm at Genius + on the Wee Bee, but it's just too taxing to try for QB. The rewards for gardening are greater...
3
@Mean Old Lady I think of you every Christmas as I hang up my cubed XWP ornament!
Pot roast aroma is the best, even better than apple pie. And asparagus is a miracle of nature.
Quite a lively theme, well executed.
A little heavy on the sports, at least in the NE. (Plus THE NBA.)
I forget the names of the two other guys I always get Gary BUSEY mixed up with, and I couldn't bring up a mental image of "The Buddy Holly Story" (which I've seen!), so that was rough.
There's a TULSA in Arkansas? Who knew?
Like others, BAD LUCK before SIGN before OMEN.
This was a lot of fun. I kept trying to think of other things that would fit the theme, but I failed.
Thanks!
2
No Tulsa in Arkansas. Tulsa Oklahoma is on the Arkansas River.
1
@Deadline
"There's a TULSA in Arkansas? Who knew?"
Either that or there is an Arkansas River in Oklahoma.
Regarding today's Spelling Bee, not today's crossword:
Why aren't the following words accepted?
1. Pharoah
2. Pragma
@Neil Bellinson
Sorry, "Pharaoh" was accepted! My bad - I misspelled it! That would bring my score up to 100 for today's Spelling Bee.
However, "Pragma" is missing from the dictionary.
1
Pharaoh is spelled thus. Never heard of pragma, but the Bee folks don’t accept every real word there is in many instances. Perhaps this is one.
1
@Neil Bellinson
(1) We're thrilled you are BEEing, but to keep the peace around here with crossword enthusiasts, please look for the SPELLING BEE thread and post your questions and comments there. There is usually a chart of the Queen Bee statistics at the top which makes it easy to spot, or you can search "Bee".
(2) You've answered your first question -- the word was misspelled and is now a SPOILER. It's a good idea to check your spelling in the dictionary before posting here -- but we've all made mistakes, so no worries!
As to the second word, only the Beekeeper can say exactly why any word is accepted or rejected. I can guess at the reason, however. It is obscure and could be considered technical jargon. The Beekeeper is fickle. He likes certain obscure words over others, but he aims for a certain level of commonality. So technical words are mostly not accepted. Only the very basic of chemistry terms are accepted. Plant Latin is not accepted.
Experience will guide you as you continue to get sucked further into the HIVE, as will reading the Spelling Bee thread.
5
I wonder if Mr. Trudeau was wearing a trench coat while he was sleuthing out his excellent theme answers and clues? I'd like to think so.
Wonderful Tuesday puzzle leaving not a trace of doubt that Ross Trudeau is one talented constructor!
1
What do you get when you cross a wordsmith with a scuba diver? First reply earns a recco. I’ll wait.
I should have prefaced the a warding of a recco trophy as the first reply that matches what I have in mind. Other answers will probably pertain but might not be as groan provoking.
@brutus a deep thinker?
2
Margaret, good guess. My answer might have pondered the impenetrable, and probably did so on a regular basis, however as to your appreciated try; ‘tis GOIN’ awry. Specifity will help arrive at the answer, perhaps.
A fun Tuesday puzzle. Just a quibble: JACKET, BLAZER, and SUIT are articles of clothing but not TANK. As an earlier poster has noted, you wear a TANKTOP, not a TANK.
1
@KC
See my earlier comment to Nancy just previous.
A cute and enjoyable Tuesday, with a bit of crunch, even. I had the slowest going in the SE. EMERSION and PAYABLES (where I initially wanted EMERGING and PAY BILLS) were delightfully un-Tuesday-ish. I also wrote in BAD LUCK before BAD OMEN. And my underwear RUBBED me before it RODE UP. More writeovers than usual on a Tuesday. Some other thoughts:
I thought HOLDING TANK was the weakest. Don't you wear a TANK TOP and not a TANK. I certainly wouldn't want to go around saying: "I think I'll wear my TANK today." Someone might answer: "Maybe you shouldn't have the eclair."
Some people are just so wise and so brilliant and so discerning that you agree with them on absolutely everything. You're not always a TOADY when you agree on everything (15A).
I like that the FASHION POLICE are right above TUT. Isn't that what they say to the unfashionable. But I remember a childhood friend of mine who worked in the fashion industry and once said to me: "You learn that there's fashion and there's taste, and that they're not the same thing." I've always found her words...encouraging.
Nice theme, nicely executed.
4
@Nancy
If you Google TANK under the Shopping tab, you’ll see in the examples that come up that tanktops are commonly called TANKS.
1
Gee, I had a lot of scars for a Tuesday puzzle! I had REST STOP before REST AREA, OMAHA before TULSA, and BAD LUCK before BAD OMEN. (I also had what I call a "makeup smear"--an entry I accidentally wrote in the wrong spot at first. Not a true scar.)
This theme was pretty clever and made me smile. The only thing I missed in this puzzle was clues that sound like something else. (I'm not counting the theme clues.) I didn't draw a smiley next to any clue today. I did kind of like 36D ("Like summers in D.C.") because it could be a lot of things, and HUMID wasn't the first thing that came to mind. Or the second or third. (Maybe if I lived in D.C. I'd have gotten that a lot sooner.) And I learned the word EMERSION.
1
Quick note to @Steve L:
Thanks for the advice about using Safari on the iPhone. You have solved both of the issues that I have been complaining about with the NYT app. (Oldest/newest and the 3 reply limit). Much appreciated.
4
@Andrew.
Glad to be of assistance.
Found this to be a little tougher than most Tuesdays, but I liked it. Haven't a clue what to don to lift the fog this morning.
Hi all
Did the annual puzzle mania come out this past Sunday ? If so is there any way to get a copy if I missed grabbing a Sunday paper ??
@Cathy P
It did and lots of us are wondering the same thing. So far I've seen nothing at all.
I'm writing to Will Shortz since I think that there should be a way to provide digital subscribers with a least a portion of Puzzle Mania, maybe by e-mailing a downloadable version. I hope others will also request this.
7
@Margaret Campbell
Thanks for the info and totally agree
@Margaret Campbell I did email the NYT and received a reply that I could order from some service (minimum fee $199!!!) or buy a reprint of the entire issue. Not a good solution for us. I would buy the puzzle section, but seriously, in this day and age, if it cannot be adapted to a digital format, then make a downloadable form that we could print for ourselves.
6
I found this puzzle to be Tuesday appropriate and an interesting theme. Thank you Ross for your insights into the theme development. Every time I read passages regarding puzzle construction by the constructors or the articles that Deb has produced, I get a good insight into a task that I see as very daunting. Solving is hard enough.
A definite NYC Metropolitan Area slant with LAGUARDIA, AARONS, RARITAN among the answers. Is anyone keeping track of the number of different clues for the oft used OREO? I would be interested to know.
1
@Ken s
Here you go, but you'll have to do the tallying yourself:
https://www.xwordinfo.com/Finder?word=OREO
Steve L. Thanks for the link.
Where would we be without Oreos?
A lot of smiles this morning in here flyover country at finding the cross of TULSA and BUSEY.
Mr. Trudeau needn't have worried that the first word in his theme answers weren't all the same part of speech. Police also TRAIL suspects.
3
I was expecting the self-picked nit to be that -- unlike the other three -- HOLDING was a gerund.
1
More to the point is HOLDING cell. A TANK reminds me of, and is generally reserved for the town SOT, sic Mayberry’s Otis Campbell...Nice refresher course in Criminology 101 from Ross Trudeau et al. It was a FUN GO, thanks all...This is an interesting twin-pak of spirit driving/driven music commencing with the NJ State U. Alma Mater, “On The Banks Of The RARITAN.” The twofer wraps up with Emmylou’s lilting paean to Gram Parsons, written ca 1977, “TULSA Queen.” Not to be missed on this clip is English Country Boy Albert Lee’s star guitar.
https://youtu.be/pzW5c9hRaE0
https://youtu.be/plZPaxEF7OY
Arrestingly,
Bru
1
Calvin and Hobbes never rode a sled. It was always a toboggan. Calvin specifically addressed this several times over the years and pointed out that while you can steer and sled, you cannot steer a toboggan. A sled very well may have resulted in a safe and successful trip down the hill rather than the inevitable crash landings that were a direct result of Calvin’s aggressive pursuit of childhood. A pursuit that was important to my own. Always choose the toboggan instead of the sled.
5
@Doll - Yay! toboggan...Yay! C & H...
1
@Doll
And what's the definition of a toboggan?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toboggan
Toboggans have no steering mechanism, but tobagganers can and do steer.
Canoes have no steering mechanism, but canoers can and do steer.
2
Super Tuesday! Clever theme and a bit tougher than the usual Tuesday offering. Tried to come up with others, but couldn't get closer than "book cover" which doesn't do it. Always good to start the day with number one son's name in the plural!
By the way, where have all the avatars gone, or is it just me?!
4
It is *not* just you! I asked the same thing the other day, but got no response.
I miss my avatar. And yours too.
1
The most stubborn “sucker trap” in this puzzle was, for me, FASHION MODELS!! Models “wear” clothes don’t they? Getting to POLICE - instead of the more obvious MODELS - seems a real stretch - - even with the constructor’s explanation. FASHION POLICE patrol or monitor or control (or purport to) what others wear. POLICE wear UNIFORMS - - not the other forms of clothing alluded to in the theme.
And I’ve never had the physique to wear a TANK - - so I spent a long time trying to make an article of clothing out of HOLDING. DOH!!
And, although I am well-acquainted with BUDDY HOLLY, I have never heard of GARY BUSEY.
Finally, don’t submarines SURFACE when they come up for air? I would consider EMERSION to be the process of dunking IN water - not the coming OUT of it. The latter would seem to be, rather, an EMERGING.
Ahhh! I love having the thing between my ears exercised while my morning dose of caffeine kicks in!!
2
@PeterW You're looking at things too literally. The way FASHION POLICE is clued (with a ? at the end) indicates that a pun is in the mix, the pun being that these are normal police activities with a pun involved. Each of the theme entries are also clued with a "?", indicating puns as well. EMERSION is the opposite of what you were thinking about (the process of dunking in water, AKA IMMERSION). EMERSION is the noun form of the word EMERGING, which is a verb form.
5
The lead in the 1978 film was one of Gary BUSEY's many film and television roles.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077280/
In keeping with today's theme, you can also see him guest-starring in a police procedural: Law & Order, Formerly Famous (2001).
1
@Steve Faiella
Agree with you about EMERSION/immersion.
Does anyone else remember immersion heaters (or are they still around somewhere)? They were those funny coil-shaped things that you stuck in a cup of water to heat it up for coffee.
I remember once in a friend's office when he took a plastic holder, inserted a plastic cup, filled it with water, and used an immersion heater to heat it up. He then used a plastic spoon to put in some instant coffee, then added a sugar substitute and some Coffee Mate. No real materials were involved.
He offered to make me a cup of "coffee" too, but I declined.
1
I play on my iPhone with the crossword app, and it would be awesome if the puzzle title could be included in the app. Hopefully this fix can be made.
TIL a few weeks ago - only Sunday puzzles have a title. The titles here are just for the (blog post? article?). When the puzzle has a title, you see it with the "i" info button
5
I found this to be clever and fun to solve. Thanks Mr. Trudeau!
I received my gift in the mail yesterday; fruit of the crossword contest a few weeks back. It is a lovely gift, indeed signed by Mr. Shortz, and I thank the crossword puzzle team at the NYT for the wonderful surprise. A Happy Holiday to all of you at the NYT and my friends here on Wordplay from central Iowa.
If you like prog rock (and who doesn't! :-)), give a listen to The Pineapple Thief. 'Dissolution' is their latest.
8
@Michael Brothers
Congratulations! I entered, too, but was not one of the lucky few. Just the process of successfully completing the puzzle was a win, as all losers say. But it was! :)
I didn't do the puzzle until this morning. It was definite a FUN GO. EZ-PZ Tuesday, but took a couple of passes to get through.
A good puzzle, good theme. Solid crossings, even OYS (but not so much THE NBA, or THE anything). Nice crossings. Even the relatively negative D STUDENT and HUMID (I hate humidity) can't spoil the fun. Loved seeing LA GUARDIA, RARITAN. I'm not a big fan of Ms. TEIGEN, but good to see her name nonetheless.
Looking at some of the entries though, I can't help but relate them to current events. TANK? JACKET? BLAZER? Nooo..the BAD O'MEN who SKEW their TRUE SELF with the FBI was only afraid of the FASHION POLICE, have much in PAYABLES to buy SUITs. But now he's been SENT to be be in HOLDING IRONs for his ACT IN corruption along with other TOADYs. Who am I talking about?
3
@Wen
Agree with you about "THE anything."
Police procedural nit: 17A clue should have been "Proper attire for *lifting* fingerprints?" CSI hopes to "lift" a print after dusting; "taking" fingerprints is a step at booking.
9
@Barry Ancona
Well, they do sometimes take prints to rule out ppl known to have been at a scene.
Here in rural America a HOLDINGTANK is for water. In the old days they sat beside windmills that pumped up water. I use an old holding tank (oblong and on its side) as a repository for fire wood. Keeps it dry and tidy (see 45D) for a tangential puzzle reference.
Often drive through Clear Lake Iowa. They have a Frank L. Wright designed hotel in addition to being the place where the music died.
According to Happy Pencil (gender free) and the little clock this was a speedy solve.
Thanks Ross
1
The FLW hotel is in Clear Lake's neighboring burg, Mason City, smack in the middle of a beautiful downtown. It is worth the short detour off of I-35.
1
Michael Brothers,
I agree.
http://www.stoneycreekhotels.com/hotel/travel/masoncity-parkinn/home.do
2
What is your strategy for solving puzzles? Mine varies. I always start with 1A and go across the top line. If I get all those I proceed with the As until I get stuck, then I try to fill some Ds to help with the As that I got stuck on. Then I'll often just fill in the area if I can.
On Sundays I usually go through all the As then all the Ds and then try filling in areas with the fewest open spaces. OK maybe I will try a few Ds during my trip through the As but I still try to stick to going through all the As first. Then as I go through the Ds I often get waylaid filling in areas.
This is a bit OT for a comment on this puzzle, which I enjoyed and solved as described in my first paragraph.
1
I simply either enter something or press enter to continue - through the acrosses, then the downs, and continue through multiple passes. Obviously, it's a digital solving experience thing. But I'm not so OCD about it.
Sometimes, If I get stuck on across and I am 2-3 rows into it, then I start looking at downs. I start filling one letter at a time based on the down answer (but not actually filling the down answer). But other times, I may simply forget about it and just start doing downs. This mostly only works Monday-Wednesday, because Thursday-Saturday, there aren't enough completed acrosses to get the downs.
I wouldn't call that a strategy, though. I'd just call that my habit.
What I might call "strategy" if you could call it that, is to solve naively, not assume anything, and don't overthink anything.
1
When I was a kid, I would watch my dad work the crossword puzzle. He had a rule that he could only put down answers connected to something already in the grid. So his puzzles would be an ever growing connected island of letters.
I grew up thinking that doing anything else was cheating. I did not complete many crossword puzzles!
Nowadays, I mostly work on a section at a time (acrosses and downs) until I've done all I can, then move on to another section. I've experimented a little with doing all acrosses first or all downs, particularly on Mondays and Tuesdays. I think it may lead to slightly faster solve times, but I don't think I enjoy it as much. Makes it feel like more of a race and less of a puzzle.
3
@jtmcg
I've been solving since "Celebes ox" (ANOA) was a thing, so my strategy has changed over the years, as I've gotten better. At this point, I don't worry about whether I'll finish a puzzle, just how challenging it will be.
These days, I generally start at 1A, and move from that point, although if a gimme catches my eye first, I'll start there.
The most significant strategy I employ is that I usually alternate across and down clues in a specific area, even if the acrosses all seem like gimmes. That way, a misdirection will not get me because the crosses will make sense. If I don't do this, I won't see that I was tricked.
These days, simply because my experience has given me a degree of intuition, I take more chances putting in words that are not 100% solid, but I keep in mind that I may need to change them. Nine out of ten times, I don't have to.
I avoid filling in entries that have two possibilities until I have a cross filled in--the Mauna LOA/KEAs of the crossworld. (Of course, LOA is usually the answer, because K.)
A main strategy of mine is to move contiguously wherever possible because you already have some letters for what you're looking at.
In earlier days, I started with fill-in-the-blank clues and other gimmes. Those would give me a foothold that I could build around.
The biggest boost was reaching the "when, not if" point--when I knew I was going to solve the puzzle, even if it was a challenge. Having confidence in your ability is a great strategy.
7
I really got hung up in that isolated section in the middle south. Changing badluck to BADOMEN helped, but still ... I imagine many might have problems with TEIGEN/EMERSION/FUNGO/RARITAN and maybe TULSA/BUSEY and ALONZO. Seemed tough for a Tuesday. And maybe I won't read the Doonesbury archive today out of spite; I hope that stings, huh, Ross T.?
2
@Blue Moon
Ditto re middle south.
SPELLING BEE:
34 words, 133 points, 1 pangram, bingo.
Ax1, Gx6, Hx3, Mx1, Ox3, Rx2, Px18
4x16, 5x7, 6x6, 7x3, 9x2
Tot 4 5 6 7 8 9
Tot 34 16 7 6 3 2
A 1 - - - 1 - -
G 6 2 2 2 - - -
H 3 2 - - - - 1
M 1 - 1 - - - -
O 3 1 1 1 - - -
R 2 2 - - - - -
P 18 9 3 3 2 - 1
Three O words all end in the same letter. The last word I got can come after BIG or before BRO.
14
Yesterday's new words:
GLORY, HOROLOGY, HYDROLOGY
There were 10 new words today. Including pangram.
The today's puzzle is most similar to the very first SB puzzle:
2018-05-18 GHOPRT-A
They have 7 words in common. Including an Egyptian one and a fish.
8
Also trying to keep things compact so @PeterW and others who don't like to see Spelling Bee comments have less to scroll through.
3
@Wen
All the Bees are all starting to have that deja vu feeling.
I got to genius quickly then slowed to a crawl as I neared my one hour cutoff. I spent more time searching systematically for that one word than any other. It was, of course, an over looked easy word.
Sometimes the Bee is like a form of self torture.
6
There were many posts about Spelling Bee posts yesterday and I learned, among other things, that Bee mavens are collectively called the Beehive. This morning I read an article in the NYT about dating apps aggressively marketing the “fun of dating” and learned of a dating app called Bumble, which runs a blog called the Beehive. While IRL bees are struggling, online bees seem to be thriving!
4
A puzzle with FUNGO and TOADY has my adoration right from the start. I learned RARITAN, and EMERSION hasn't been tickled in my head for probably decades -- one terrific benefit of puzzles is how they expand the brain and keep it active. I had TIEGEs before TIEGEN, and BADluck before BADOMEN. Another terrific benefit is that puzzles often keep the ego in check.
I saw HOLDING TANK as an outlier, with the first word as an adjective, where I saw DUST, TRAIL, and FOLLOW as verbs (I see from his notes that Ross saw TRAIL as a noun). But I gave it an easy pass. I would have given even a misspelling in the puzzle an easy pass, because TOADY and FUNGO.
5
another great puzzle from Ross. Really enjoy his creations. I don't think I've thought about "Fungo" since the last time I moved and found my 40 year old Fungo bat. it's neat when a "gimme" for me is obscure to others :)
3
@PatrickM It was definitely obscure to me! I don't think I've ever heard that word before.
1
@Bess I dont hear modern ballplayers say it often if ever but it was a popular term in the 50's and 60's, probably before that too...not that I was aware of it in the 50's and 60's but little boys tend to read a lot about sports
1
@PatrickM I am aware of FUNGO bats, but never used one. We also referred to hitting practice fly balls as 'hitting fungo,' even though we used a regular bat. I did a lot of that during several years of coaching little league (and every single day it took me about four tries to get my timing right).
I wonder which usage came first, and for that matter what the derivation of that could possibly be.
In spite of the fact that I found this quite a bit more difficult than the commenters so far, I really loved it. The NE had a few unknowns, the model, the basketball player and FUNGO. I got AARONS from the crosses, but would have known it had Hank been a clue. Toss in the N.J. river and leaving in "luck" for far too long and I was thinking I'd slept through to Wednesday.
However, I really had fun with all the theme answers, and at least managed to avoid any checks ( but I really wanted to). It was also very interesting to read Ross's remarks.
3
@suejean i agree, it was a challenging puzzle
2
@suejean
I had many of the same experiences as you. I had the worst trouble in the mid-bottom, though: Just couldn't think of (HOLDING)TANK, GROUP, TULSA, FOLLOW(SUIT), or (PAY)ABLES. Not to mention misspelling BUSEY. What a difference from yesterday!
Ditto Ross' remarks.
Cute theme. Would have been even cuter and better accessorized if 64A had been SHOE there at the bottom.
Loved seeing RARITAN. I have lived in CA since age 13, but spent my formative span of 3-13 living pretty much right on the Raritan in Highland Park.
I think this was a perfect Tuesday.
2
and Elke
Another -JACK(ET)? And another colourful bird-COCKATOO ?
So to prolong the FUN(GO), an (old) Jewish joke :
Three bubbes sitting on a park bench; the first one lets out a heartfelt :'OY'. A few minutes later, the second one sighs deeply and says: 'OY vey'.
Then the third one sobs and cries :'OY veyizmir'.
To which the first bubba says :'I thought we would not talk about our children'.....
I PASS on the FASHION POLICE- OY gevalt ( gevalt should have been in a recent SB ). We had Sunday the HAT parade.
5
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of you what my onetime boss (as Commander-in-Chief) once said: "I am not a crook."
Oops, wrong quote. How about, "You won't have me to kick around any more."? Yeah, that's it.
Yesterday was a lot of fun, no?
1
@HALinNY
Further to you wondering if I have ESP, lol, yes I do have Electronic Speed Power when I fast forward through my recording. Sorry to disappoint!
@HALinNY, @BarbJ
Huh??
@Ron recently (not today) BarbJ said that she never watches sports unless it's ice hockey and her national olympic team (she's from Canada) wins.
That would mean she either has to watch a replay or she can precognate the winner before the game is actually played, got it?
quick Tuesday! In my wheelhouse. I PASS the RARITAN River quite often. Last time was just this weekend going to the Bridgewater Commons for the Microsoft Store helpers!
Cute. Enjoyable. Quick.
Nothing particularly outre except RARITAN, easily yielded from crosses. I'm certain some will add "Chrissie who", but yes, pop culture is relevant, as are Ms. Teigen and husband John Legend, both witty and talented entertainers.
A BONBON for BONOBOS, OY, regulars. Should give NOOBS a few mild head scratches. I'm predicting BONY+++ in the BEE tomorrow. Just cause. The bigger question is will anyone complain when we discuss it in the column ? . . . .
2
One of the drawbacks of Monday and Tuesday puzzles for me is the desire to complete them quickly because, after all, they're easy peasy Monday and Tuesday editions and not Friday or Saturday brain busters. But with speed often come dumb mistakes (e.g., I had REST STOP at 3D and BAD LUCK at 26D, both of which had to be right because the first word was in fact correct, but which required revision once I worked out the crosses). More importantly, there's the proverbial failure "to stop and smell the roses" as each themed answer marvelously appears. Such was the case today with Mr. Trudeau's creative reinterpretation of common phrases to capture a topic that serves as fodder for the magazines and tabloids at the checkout line. These were great, Ross, and thanks for the tips on how to evaluate the fit and quality of the themed answers when constructing a puzzle.
10
@Henry Su
I did the exact same thing with those two clues, as will many others -- that's good misdirection by the creators not "dumb mistakes". If we worked in ink, we'd have checked the cross clues before entering those as they seemed like gimmes. Since we work online, it's much easier to enter a word and fix it later.
Today, I did glom on to the theme as I went, which I don't always do. I too am a speedster, not because I am in a hurry but because I solve online and am a fast typist. Not always accurate, which leads to silly errors sometimes . . .
Maybe if we turned off the timer, we would savor the puzzles more. But even if we did that, those pesky Statistics would remain visible. Those of us with even vaguely competitive bones always want to best ourselves! It's a balancing act.
Pen and paper were different. Yet I don't miss newsprint and stacks of paper all over, so like you, I must make a concerted effort to smell the roses . . .
6
@Liane, you're right -- "dumb mistake" wasn't quite the phrase I wanted here. And yes indeed, it's so different--and so much better--to solve online than on paper. I noticed some commentary in yesterday's Wordplay about NYT subscribers having to pay extra for the crossword subscription. Speaking for myself, I think it's worth it. Like you, I don't miss the task of saving (and then misplacing) the Arts section. The online version has definitely made me a faster and much more consistent solver, especially I move backwards in time to complete puzzles in the Archive.
2
@Henry Su
@Liane
you both make interesting points about online solving.
It is possible to fall into bad habits. One habit I've picked up and can't break - I enter the first letter of what I think will be the answer and then check to see if it is the right letter rather than waiting to see if the word fits with other words. I never did that with the paper version because I couldn't.
I use Across Lite on my laptop.
1
It went so fast, I was left thinking, “Where’d all the FUNGO?”
I like that constructors are using their platform in the note section to offer mentorship. I also appreciate the resources they share to help people get into the community!
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@Elaine. Perhaps to TULSA, home to the Woody Guthrie Center and the Center of the Universe (https://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2016/10/center-of-the-universe-tulsa.html/amp). Nice to see this overlooked city get a shout out. ***** for your creative use of FUNGO.
@Elaine
I loved your comment. It should have been the most popular comment of the day but for the HIVE reacting to the Spelling Bee troll.
I want to know that I, on behalf of the Hive over which I have no authority or power, appoint you QUEEN BEE for the day.
Liane
I stay out of comments, mostly. Tonight I have loved yours! A nice mix of honey sweet encouragement and a direct message to tell someone to ‘bee nice!’
I have an Austrian friend who got the biggest kick out of my saying, "oy veh." She said her mother, in Linz, said the same thing in her dialect.
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NOSED before EDGED slowed things down in the deep Southwest....our old and near-constant friend - EKED - didn't make the cut....
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My father sent me to old Rutgers
And resolved that I should be a man
And so I settled down
In that noisy college town
On the banks of the old Raritan.
On the banks of the old Raritan (my boys)
Where old Rutgers ever more shall stand
For has she not stood
Since the time of the floooood
On the banks of the old Raritan.
Shall we say, one of the more outré Alma Mater songs?
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my dad likes to warble that one occasionally: he graduated from Rutgers in 1963 or so.
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@David Connell Mr. Magoo was an alumnus of Rutgers, class of 1928,
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My brother (a Rutgers graduate) and his wife sing it every time they cross the Morris Goodkind Bridge
It felt like there were a lot of proper names in this one! CLUB before IRON (at least I was in the right sport) and EMERSION is not a word I've ever heard. But I enjoyed seeing LAGUARDIA in there.
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@Liz B, me too. After last Friday's Wordplay comments regarding AIRPORT CODE, it's nice to see an AIRPORT NAME instead!
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@Liz B
We have an EMERSION blender.
@Ron, are you sure it isn't an EMERSON blender?
"D students are so called because their work is rotten."
"Oh, how's that?"
"They write D compositions."
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Not a TOADY but I enjoyed the theme and thought the fill was fresh for Tuesday.
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